Tommy's RaceChasin' Blog

RACE REPORT: AUTO CITY JUNE 26

2010-06-27T11:46:00.000-04:00

By Tommy Goudge (June 26, 2010) - Jimmy McCune led the MustSeeRacing.com Xtreme Sprint Series event at Auto City Speedway from start to finish on Saturday night. Rain hit the track as the Qualifying races were pushing off, creating a late but enjoyable night of racing.

* Note - these are NOT official series results - just my notes from the event.

The event featured a unique format. Here it is: http://mustseeracing.com/text/auto_city_purse_rules.pdf

Time Trials (2 laps)
Position. Number Name (Hometown) - Best Lap
1. 07L Ryan Litt (London, ONT) - 12.967
2. 22 Derek Snyder (Williamston, MI) - 12.975
3. 26b Jeff Bloom (Bangor, MI) - 13.061
4. 40 Jason Cox (Park City, IL) - 13.144
5. 71 Curt Shumaker (Ortonville, MI) - 13.150
6. 81 Troy DeCaire (Tampa, FL) - 13.190
7. 42 Kevin Feeney (Oxford, MI) - 13.228
8. 3x Bo Hartley (Zephyrhills, FL) - 13.265
9. 10s Jason Blonde (Litchfield, MI) - 13.332
10. 88 Jimmy McCune (Toledo, OH) - 13.338
11. 7 Tim Cox (Park City, IL) - 13.340
12. 82 Travis Miniea (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) - 13.343
13. 37 Hank Lower (Angola, IN) - 13.346
14. 9 Chad Goff (Whitemore Lake, MI) - 13.392
15. 26p Aaron Pierce (Daleville, IN) - 13.398
16. 99 Geoff Kaiser (Fort Wayne, IN) - 13.405
17. 24 Bill Tyler (Parma, MI) - 13.450
18. 70 Dorman Snyder (Union City, MI) - 13.462
19. 46 Jim Swain (Union City, MI) - 13.468
20. 55 Mike Ling (Mount Brydges, ONT) - 13.470
21. 19 Dave Baumgartner (Ottawa Lake, MI) - 13.476
22. 6 Mike Larrison (Coatesville, IN) - 13.730
23. 10k Ron Koehler (South Bend, IN) - 13.926
24. 10d Doug Stepke (Brooklyn, MI) - 14.231

Qualifying Order: 55, 82, 10s, 46, 24, 7, 81, 26b, 70, 40, 22, 42, 37, 99, 3x, 07L, 26p, 9, 19, 10k, 6, 88, 10s, 71

NOTES - Ling was first car out and ran two laps with a misfire. The result was the twentieth fastest lap in the session.

Pierce spun between turns one and two on his second qualifying lap.

Nice runs for Troy DeCaire, recent high school grad Jason Cox, and Bo Hartley. All three drivers were running Auto City's unique configuration for the first time.

Announcers said Curt Shumaker's track record is 12.82, I believe it is 12.92, and Curt says he has a plaque that says 12.79. Who is right?

Heat Race #1 (8 laps)
Position. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 88 Jimmy McCune (3)
2. 99 Geoff Kaiser (1)
3. 7 Tim Cox (2)
4. 07L Ryan Litt (6)
5. 42 Kevin Feeney (4)
6. 40 Jason Cox (5)
7. 70 Dorman Snyder (7)
8. 6 Mike Larrison (8)

Notes - McCune got by Kaiser on the last lap to steal away the heat win, and looked good doing it. Fast qualifier Ryan Litt moved up two spots, including a nice move on Feeney.

Heat Race #2 (8 laps)
Position. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 55 Mike Ling (1)
2. 3x Bo Hartley (4)
3. 9 Chad Goff (2)
4. 82 Travis Miniea (3)
5. 71 Curt Shumaker (5)
6. 10k Ron Koehler (8)
7. 22 Derek Snyder (6) DNF
8. 46 Jim Swain (7) DNF

Notes - Goff got the jump on the start and took off, but Ling tracked him down and made the winning pass just before halfway.

Hartley again looked impressive in moving up two spots.

Second place qualifier Derek Snyder took his machine to the pits and scratched for the night with mechanical problems.

Swain went to the pits after taking the green flag.

Heat Race #3 (8 laps)
Position. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 10s Jason Blonde (4)
2. 26p Aaron Pierce (2)
3. 19 Dave Baumgartner (7)
4. 37 Hank Lower (3)
5. 26b Jeff Bloom (6)
6. 81 Troy DeCaire (5)
7. 24 Bill Tyler (1)
8. 10d Doug Stepke (8)

Notes - DeCaire spun in turn four at the halfway mark to bring out a caution and bring Pierce within striking distance of Blonde, who had moved to second.

Tyler fell through the pack after Baumgartner slid high and the two made contact. There may have been damage on the #24.

Qualifier #1 (20 laps - Top Ten transfer to feature)
Position. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 82 Travis Miniea (2)
2. 55 Mike Ling (6)
3. 10s Jason Blonde (7)
4. 24 Bill Tyler (1)
5. 99 Geoff Kaiser (4)
6. 42 Kevin Feeney (5)
7. 9 Chad Goff (3)
8. 07L Ryan Litt (10)
9. 26b Jeff Bloom (9)
10. 71 Curt Shumaker (8)
11. 10k Ron Koehler (12)
12. 46 Jim Swain (11)

Notes - The field was pushed off and ready to go when rain started to fall. The cars were sent to the pit area, and the rain became heavier shortly thereafter. Three hours of track drying and 100 lap Super Stock feature later, the Sprints were back on track.

Miniea led from green to checkered, but all eyes were on Ling and Blonde, who both moved up four spots. Both would have run down Miniea if the race were a lap or two longer.

Qualifier #2 (20 laps - Top Ten transfer to feature)
Position. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 37 Hank Lower (2)
2. 70 Dorman Snyder (1)
3. 19 Dave Baumgartner (3)
4. 81 Troy DeCaire (6)
5. 88 Jimmy McCune (7)
6. 40 Jason Cox (9)
7. 3x Bo Hartley (8)
8. 10d Doug Stepke (12)
9. 6 Mike Larrison (11)
10. 7 Tim Cox (4) DNF
11. 26p Aaron Pierce (5) DNS
12. 22 Derek Snyder (10) DNS

Notes - Seventy-two year old Lower showed the way throughout.

Tim Cox took his machine to the infield early in the race and was done for the night.

DeCaire and McCune moved up two spots each, while young Jason Cox did a nice job moving up three spots.

Snyder was done after his heat. Not sure what happened to Pierce, who looked good in his heat.

FEATURE (20 laps)
Position. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 88 Jimmy McCune (1)
2. 40 Jason Cox (2)
3. 81 Troy DeCaire (4)
4. 07L Ryan Litt (6)
5. 55 Mike Ling (10)
6. 10s Jason Blonde (9)
7. 70 Dorman Snyder (3)
8. 19 Dave Baumgartner (5)
9. 82 Travis Miniea (8)
10. 26b Jeff Bloom (11)
11. 37 Hank Lower (7)
12. 42 Kevin Feeney (14)
13. 24 Bill Tyler (15)
14. 10d Doug Stepke (18)
15. 9 Chad Goff (17)
16. 10k Ron Koehler (20)
17. 3x Bo Hartley (12)
18. 46 Jim Swain (21)
19. 6 Mike Larrison (19)
20. 99 Geoff Kaiser (13) DNF
21. 71 Curt Shumaker (16) DNF

NOTES - McCune led throughout, though Cox was never far behind. Litt, Ling, Blonde, and DeCaire were worth the price of admission.

McCune took the lead at the start, while back in the pack Litt and DeCaire each gained a spot, and Ling was up to eighth when Mike Larrison spun to bring out a caution with two laps complete.

Ling continued his charge through the field on the restart, while McCune took command out front.

Caution flew again on lap twelve for a tangle between Koehler and Swain coming out of turn four. Both restarted, although Swain suffered damage to the front wing. The restart order was 88, 40, 81, 07L, 55, 70, 10s, 81, 19, and 26b.

The restart found Troy DeCaire getting crossed up exiting turn two. Litt tried to go to the outside, but clipped DeCaire's nerf bar with his left front wheel. Ling pounced and got by both of them, but everything was negated when Hartley spun behind them to bring the caution back out.

McCune led the rest of the way. Cox held DeCaire off for second. Litt and Ling diced for the fourth spot after the lap twelve restart, with Litt prevailing.

More info on www.MustSeeRacing.com

Break-In At Joel Lehman's Race Shop

2010-04-17T13:17:00.000-04:00

I was asked to pass along this information...any help is greatly appreciated. Joel Lehman is a longtime local Sprint Car racer and former SOS champion from the Guelph area.

"Hi,

We had a break in at our shop this past Friday mid morning.

Stolen was:

- BRAND NEW ASCS headed 360 long block; Crower, JE, Huggins, T&D, Shaver,
Hampshire, with engine stand

- 2-7/16 Hilborn injectors complete; 6 stacks and 3 filters; they dropped one
pair of stacks and one filter on the way out

- Honda EM3500 generator

- Aluminum race jack

- Race bag containing, Race suit (embroidered with my name!), Bell GTX
helmet/spare visor, nomex underwear/gloves/restraints etc, LEAF shoes, AMB Transponder (#3857597)and charger

- Miller Syncrowave 200 TIG Welder and accessories

- Racers tool box; full of everything you can imagine

There is a limited market for this type of equipment in our area. This has
serious impact to our racing efforts. Please contact me at
4zsprint@gmail.com with any information.

thanks
Joel"

Fab Five Freshmen

2010-01-29T12:13:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (January 29, 2010) - The new teams just keep on coming. We already knew of at least three drivers moving into the local Sprint Car ranks in 2010, and the latest news says two more talented racers are throwing their hats (helmets?) into the ring. Cheektowaga, NY asphalt Late Model driver Todd Hoddick, and former Merrittville dirt Modified racer Jamie Turner join Stevin Goldner, Chris Steele, and Shane Butler, who we heard about in the fall.

In spite of his relative youth - he'll turn 26 in March - Hoddick brings an impressive resume to his new venture. He started in Karts at age 10, and began his full size stock car career just 4 years later. Along with Late Model track championships at Lancaster and Lake Erie, the Buffalo-area driver has also competed part time in ARCA, ASA, and USAR Pro Cup, and spent much of last season driving an SST Modified. The team plans to concentrate on Friday nights at Ohsweken, though they may miss opening night while Todd attends class for his Masters degree.

"We will see how things go and how quickly we adapt to these type cars before we decide on traveling," says Todd. "I am hoping to get out as much as possible before the season starts to get some seat time in the car. We know it will definitely be a challenge, and hope to become competitive by the end of the season."

Turner brings lots of dirt Modified experience and should be a force to be reckoned with almost immediately. Jamie is part of an extensive racing family, as father Don was a mainstay at Merrittville for over 40 years, while brother-in-law Joe Plazek is no stranger to local short track fans either. Ohsweken regular Mikey Kruchka is happy about Jamie's new venture, and he's pretty familiar with the car Turner aquired - the Kevin Loveys #18.

"I'm very excited because Jamie's shop has been the home for my sprint car since the start," says Mikey. "When I was 15 and just got into racing he let me help out and work on his crew when he raced 358's. He is like another big brother to me."

Goldner - the youngest of the rookie contingent - had a fire in his shop at Christmas time and was unsure of his status for the coming season. A month later he is much more optimistic.

"We're all good...(The) body's getting painted at the moment," says Stevin. "The great guys at Metal Works helped us out a bunch. Hoping it's going to be done for March for the London Auto Expo."

On the pavement side of things, the Can-Am Midget club's tentative schedule is posted, and does not show Flamboro Speedway. A mainstay for most of the club's 40+ years, it seems at least somewhat likely we won't see them there this year. There's also talk of the Late Models getting some nights off, leaving many to wonder what exactly IS going to run on Saturday nights there this summer. The Midgets will still have a good number of races at other area tracks, including a potential return to Delaware in August.

Canada will have full-time representation on the World of Outlaws Sprint Car trail for the first time in many years (was Tim Gee the last?) when Toni Lutar takes the green flag at Volusia next week. Although he'll turn 52 on St. Patrick's Day, the White Rock, B.C. resident is officially in contention with 36 year old Ben Gregg and 20 year old Cody Darrah for the Kevin Gobrecht rookie of the year award. The big news out of the WoO this week is a change to double-file restarts, and other procedural changes.

Enjoy Hockey Day in Canada tomorrow. If you're in London, call or e-mail your local politicians and tell them we want outdoor ice rinks. THAT'S the way to grow "our game".

tommygoudge@hotmail.com is the best way to find me. You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook too.

Shoulda Gone to the Chili Bowl...

2010-01-19T13:29:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (January 19, 2009) - Each January 250+ race car drivers and a huge crowd cram into the QuikTrip Center, one of the largest "clearspan" buildings in the world. They go for what is arguably the biggest dirt track event in the world - the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. So my question to myself today is: Why haven't I been there yet?! I need to rectify this sad state of affairs next year.

According to those in attendance, one of the biggest topics of conversation in Tulsa last week was the North American debut of the V8 built by New Zealand's Simon Longdill. This year he brought his Agressor team overseas with Kiwi drivers Michael Pickens and Brad Mosen.

The engine is made from two Kawasaki ZX12R 1200 blocks and cylinder heads put together to form a 147 cubic inch 80 degree V8. It is not legal in any midget sanction in the US that I know of (with the possible exception of the Badger series), but at the Chili Bowl, pretty much anything goes...

American driver Davey Ray played a big part in the development of the engine, which has been running successfully in Australia and New Zealand for the past couple of years.

After 5 nights of racing, Kevin Swindell came out the victor, but both the V8's made it into the feature as well. Toni Lutar and Glenn Styres were the only Canadian drivers in the event, with Styres the best of the two after an 8th place finish in the first "E Main" on Saturday night. Full results and story are on http://www.chilibowl.com

Lots of video coverage of the event on YouTube if you search "Chili Bowl". Some of the best coverage is on these channels:

http://www.youtube.com/user/lucasoiltv

http://www.youtube.com/user/hosehead3366

http://www.youtube.com/user/simonlongdill

Speed Channel will show a 2 hour highlight show from the Chili Bowl on Saturday, February 13 @ 9pm Eastern time.

Glenn Styres will be back in action in just a few weeks when the "outdoor" racing season gets underway in Florida. He'll race on the dirt at East Bay Raceway Park and Volusia Speedway Park.

Canada will also be represented on Florida blacktop by Ryan Litt. The London resident is going back behind the wheel of a DeCaire Motorsports entry at Citrus County Speedway, New Smyrna Speedway, and Desoto Speedway.

Travis Rutz continues on his long road to recovery, and he and his family can still use your help. If you have anything left after paying your post-Christmas credit card bills, visit www.TravisRutz.com and do what you can to help.

While you've got your wallet out, think of Kevin Brown, the referee whose throat was slashed by a skate in a Woodstock Junior C game on December 29 as he tried to break up a fight. A trust fund is set up at Libro Financial Group in his name. His condition is gradually improving, but Kevin remains in hospital here in London.

Fights in hockey aren't just dangerous to players, but officials too. Even the death of a player as a result of a hockey fight last year hasn't had much of an effect it seems. What IS it going to take?

Until next time, drop me a line - tommygoudge@hotmail.com

Full Moon Fever

2009-12-03T11:10:00.001-05:00

London, Ontario (December 3, 2009) - Strange occurrences in the sporting world over the last few days made me wonder if there was a full moon...as it turns out, it was yesterday.

Superstition is something I've tried to get away from over the years - I don't have much of a choice really after smashing so many mirrors at a demolition job in my teen years, and having a black cat. I have, however, come to believe that strange and/or interesting things DO happen around the time of the month when the moon is full.

Just a few things that happened over the last few days:

- Florida Panthers Defenseman Keith Ballard sends teammate Tomas Vokoun to the hospital with a swing A-Rod would be proud of..

- The Roughriders squander their chance at a second Grey Cup in three years, Don Cherry-style.

- Sabres goalie Ryan Miller's clearing attempt goes through a small cutout in the glass where photographers point their cameras, hitting a Toronto Star photog in the face.

- The Buffalo Bills win a football game, and the Maple Leafs get a shutout.

This last item is enough to make me think hell has frozen over too...

Earlier this year the full moon struck a couple of times at races I was working. In July just a few days after a full moon, "Batman" Adam West passed Rick Wilson for a feature win...Has anyone ever passed Rick Wilson on the outside for a win at Brighton before?!

Under an August full moon, we had one of the longest, most wreck-filled nights of racing I've seen at Ohsweken. Teammates Glenn Styres and Ryan Hunsinger crashed heavily, Mikey Kruchka had a huge crash in turn two that left him injured for the remainder of the season, and tires were peeling off Thunder Stocks left and right.

One of the strangest nights of racing I've seen happened on the night of a full moon a few years ago at Auto City Speedway. Two Sprints and a Modified ended up on their lids that night - rarities at a paved track. On the drive home, we encountered a car driving in reverse down the interstate...

Speaking of Auto City, 410 sprint cars are back at the egg-shaped track this June after a year away. They'll be under the new Xtreme Sprint Series banner. The schedule for the series was released Tuesday, featuring twelve televised events on Comcast. While the Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series is working with the new group, the Auto Value Super Sprints are not. In fact AVSS has a race scheduled at Berlin Raceway on the same day as the Auto City race. On the other hand, AVSS will NOT be a part of the season ending Open Wheel Spectacular at Berlin. Go figure.

This week's trivia: Mike Ling of Mount Brydges, Ontario was first to break the 13 second barrier at Auto City. Just eighty miles from the Bluewater Bridge, Auto City could have been considered Mike's "home track" before Delaware returned to the AVSS schedule. It was sort of a home track for me too, actually...

The USAC Western Sprint Car series portion of Turkey Night at Irwindale, CA once again featured a few Canadians last week. Chris Schmelzle, Jeff Bird, and Matt Mansell made the long trip from Vancouver Island for the 69th annual race. Bird came out best of the Canucks with a 16th place finish.

The off-season upgrades continue for Ontario's Sprint Car teams. Chris Jones has a J&J chassis for next year, while Rick and April Wilson are going to try some 410 racing.

"We might run Florida in February," says April. "If not, then we are for sure going to run a few races in PA in March, and go 360 racing in the summer. Then if there's any 410 races close like Ohsweken we will go!"

A piece of Ontario racing history changed hands in October. The restored Ted Hogan/Doug Duncan "Flying 7" sold for $13,375 CAD at an RM Auction.

It's been just short of fifty years since Hogan was killed in a small plane crash. Duncan went on to build the first truly successful rear engine Supermodified at Oswego, and passed away just a few years ago. A Don Edmunds Midget piloted to the 1972 USAC championship by Pancho Carter also sold at the auction for over $10,000.

If you lost out on the Hogan car, perhaps you'll be interested in The Time Machine, which is on the block these days. Both Flying 7 and Time Machine (to name just two) belong permanently in the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame, but they seem to have different priorities down there in Toronto.

Back to the Grey Cup for a moment...A lot of media folks pointed out various things that led to Saskatchewan coughing it up, but one play so far ignored is the 2-point convert attempt Montreal made after their touchdown made the score 27-25. Instead of tying the game, apparent pass interference that went uncalled kept the 'Riders in front with less than 2 minutes to play. Saskatchewan went two and out after the ensuing kickoff and gave the ball back to Montreal with enough time to get down the field and kick the winning field goal...but in a tie game Saskatchewan's play-calling may well have been different, with overtime a possibility.

It won't surprise me if somebody gets manure dumped on their lawn out in the prairies before this week is out, but way more than the too-many-men penalty is to blame for the Green Riders losing the game - They were ahead by sixteen points with less than eleven minutes left.

If you're in the area, come visit me in the booth at Sailors home games this winter. Or, just like Vegas, the inbox at tommygoudge@hotmail.com is always open too.

Vous voulez le mieux? Quebec Gets Outlaws!

2009-11-26T14:36:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (November 26, 2009) - Ok so it's likely not an accurate translation, but Johnny Gibson might be taking some French lessons this off-season so he can do his trademark line in Quebec next year...Tuesday, July 27 at Autodrome Drummond is the date announced over the weekend. Drummond will kick off a three-race Canadian swing for the tour, finishing July 30/31 at Ohsweken Speedway.

A renewal for the tour at Edmonton's Castrol Raceway was already announced back in August, making three Canadian provinces on the schedule next year. The Drummond event will mark the tour's first visit to Quebec, but area fans are no strangers to sprint car racing - they pack the joint when ESS comes to town. The World of Outlaws Late Model series has also made successful visits to Drummond over the last few seasons.

Tentative 2010 ISMA dates are now in public view. Quebec fans might see the Supers too, because series officials are looking into a companion event to go with their July 17 date at Airborne Speedway. The Plattsburgh, NY track is located just seventy miles South of Montreal. ISMA will also return to Delaware Speedway for a doubleheader on Civic Holiday weekend for the second year in a row.

Earlier this month we heard about Stevin Goldner moving to Sprints...This week we heard yet another London-area racer is joining the Sprint Car fold in 2010. Wonderland Speedway regular Shane Butler is moving up to the big cars as a teammate to Chris Durand. Both drivers plan to run weekly at Ohsweken as well as on the SOS tour.

After spending their rookie years learning the ropes with older equipment, both Durand and Brockville's Paul Pekkonen are re-arming for 2010. Durand picked up an Eagle courtesy of Tyler Rand, while Pekkonen found an '08 JEI from Pennsylvania.

The Niagara area also has yet another "Modified Refugee" moving to Sprints next year in the form of Fenwick's Chris Steele, who turns 23 on Christmas Day. The veteran of Mod-Lites and 358 Modifieds has aquired a Craig Mintz machine from Ohio and plans to race at Ohsweken in 2010.

Possibly the last Ontario open-wheeler to race outdoors in 2009, Ryan Litt didn't have the results he'd hoped for in a trip down South. Engine troubles derailed a 6th place qualifying effort at Concord, while a one-groove Citrus County track prevented much movement through the pack. Litt now looks forward to next season and the Xtreme Sprint Series. A schedule for the new series is reported to be available by next week's PRI show in Orlando.

A tip of the cap to Mark Sammut for a banner year in 2009. The London driver claimed his first two career ISMA wins this year, along with a MSA/Oswego challenge race. He also got a career best finish in the ISMA season championship by taking the runner-up spot.

Coming from out of town for the CPT Racing Experience at London's Western Fair Agriplex in January? Special racer's rates are available at a couple of hotels...details at the following link: http://www.cptrace.com/accommodations.php.

Next year I'll be "Tweeting" from most races. Follow along at www.Twitter.com/TommyGoudge. Updates to www.TheRaceChasers.com are also in the works this winter...stay tuned.

I'll leave with this question - How come dirt track fans in this province also keep tabs on area pavement racing, while the pavement fans all but ignore dirt tracks? Many from the local tar car set are just hearing the name Steve Arpin for the first time this week, courtesy of Norris McDonald...

Send your thoughts to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

As Usual, NASCAR Gets It Wrong

2009-10-29T11:33:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (October 29, 2009) - My opinion of Dick Berggren is occasionally on the low end of the spectrum, but he definitely got it right Sunday night on Wind Tunnel from Thompson Speedway. Host Dave Despain asked "Doctor Dick" his thoughts on the inaugural class of inductees for NASCAR's new hall of fame, to which he replied that Raymond Parks ought to have been among them.

The omission of anyone from the first years of NASCAR other than Bill France, Sr. is disapointing, but not surprising. Pick up a copy of Driving With The Devil if you want to learn about NASCAR's real beginnings. I agree with Kevin Eckert's philosphy about halls of fame; going in on the first ballot is not particularly important, but at 95 years old, Parks is not going to be here forever. Let's hope he's still around to see his name go up on the wall.

Exactly a month after his terrible crash at Terre Haute Action Track, Travis Rutz went home to Langley, BC on Tuesday. He's still in a coma and has a long recovery ahead of him, so keep the donations coming.

Mark Sammut was just over 6 laps away from his third career ISMA victory on Sunday at Thompson, CT but it wasn't to be. Sammut lost his right front wheel on lap 43 of the ISMA finale after holding off fellow Canuck Mike Lichty for much of the event. Chris Perley made a spectacular charge to cap off another championship season with the feature win at Thompson, while Sammut finished the season ranked second in points, his best finish yet in ISMA.

While most Canadian racers are done for the season, Ryan Litt is not. The London, Ontario resident will head for North Carolina and Florida in November to compete with the TBARA series. Litt will drive a third entry for DeCaire Motorsports, a strong team in the Southeast that has claimed the last two TBARA championships. The Concord, NC event is part of the North-South Shootout weekend where Supermodifieds have run, but are replaced with Sprint Cars this year.

More sprint car rookies are on the horizon for Ontario next season. Aylmer's Stevin Goldner will make the jump from the JCAR series up to full size cars next year, and he'll do it with a chassis some sharp-eyed fans might recognize. A brand new car in the 2005 season, it had just 7 races on it when Les MacMillan packed it in.

How good can Jesse Hockett be? Some quick reading before the TJSlideways show Tuesday night revealed "Rocket Hockett" has 25 feature wins in the last 12 months, including the Oval Nationals ($12,500), Ronald Laney Memorial ($13,000), and the Ultimate Challenge ($15,000)...and he's only 26 years old.

Send your comments, thoughts, complaints, and whatever else you've got to tommygoudge@hotmail.com and until next time, keep visiting www.TravisRutz.com.

Travis Rutz Injured

2009-10-07T21:10:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (October 7, 2009)

After making the long trip to Ohsweken from Langley, BC to compete in the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, twenty-one year old Travis Rutz and his team were racing their way back home.

They had stopped at Eldora Speedway to race with the World of Outlaws on Friday, September 25, and then visited the Terre Haute Action Track with the All Star Circuit of Champions on Sunday, September 27. Unfortunately that is where their trip ended as Travis was involved in a bad accident with eight laps to go in the feature.

Rutz was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he remains in a coma. There has been an outpouring of support from the racing community, but Travis and his family can use your help. Please visit www.TravisRutz.com to see what you can do.

Gold Cup This Weekend in Edmonton...Tripleheader Weekend in Ontario.

2009-07-09T12:28:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (July 9, 2009) - Canada's most historic open wheel race takes the green flag tomorrow night. The Gold Cup was originally a pavement Supermodified race at Speedway Park in Edmonton, and featured drivers such as Billy Foster, Jim Malloy, Art Pollard, and the Sneva Brothers, Tom and Jerry.

Speedway Park was part of a large racing complex called Edmonton International Speedway, which closed in 1982 to make way for a housing development. This left the Edmonton area devoid of professional racing until 1991, when what is now known as Castrol Raceway opened. The Gold Cup name was revived that same year, this time to crown the champion of a dirt sprint car race. Participants in the "modern era" of the Gold Cup include Kasey Kahne, and former winners Gary Lee Maier and Jason Solwold.

Gold Cup winner's list from SeanMoran.net:

2008 - Brock Lemley, Bellingham WA
2007 - Travis Rutz, Langley BC
2006 - Billy Boyce, Lethbridge AB
2005 - Sean Moran, Sherwood Park AB
2004 - Travis Rutz, Langley BC
2003 - Jayme Barnes, Everett WA
2002 - Jason Solwold, Sedro Woolley WA
2001 - Jason Solwold, Sedro Woolley WA
2000 - Gary Lee Maier, Cimmaron KS
1999 - Shauna Wilskey, Bothel WA
1998 - Jay Smith, Stanwood WA
1997 - Wade Fleming, Edmonton AB
1996 - Tim Gee, Leduc AB
1995 - Marc Huson, Bothel WA
1994 - Marc Huson, Bothel WA
1993 - Marc Huson, Bothel WA
1992 - Rain Out
1991 - Lou Kennedy Jr, Winnipeg MB
1983 -1990 Not Contested
1978 -1982 No Records
1977 - Dave Moran, Lacombe AB
1976 - Doug Larsen, Quesnel BC
1975 - Bob Baker, Salt Lake City UT
1970 - 1974 Not Contested
1969 - Norm Ellefson, Edmonton AB
1968 - Jim Roberts, Eugene OR
1967 - Bud Gorder, Spokane WA
1966 - Al Smith, Victoria BC
1965 - Jim Malloy, Denver CO
1964- Billy Foster, Victoria BC
1963 - Billy Foster, Victoria BC
1962 - Art Pollard, Roseburg OR
1961 - Art Pollard, Roseburg OR
1960 - Norm Ellefson, Edmonton AB
1959 - Larry McDonald, Seattle WA
1958 - Ernie Koch, Portland OR
1957 - Cecil Hunt, Spokane WA
1956 - Ray Peets, Edmonton AB
1955 - Gavin Breckenridge, Edmonton AB
1954 - Eddy Matan, Edmonton AB

Meanwhile, there's also a big weekend of racing on top in Ontario. Mid-Season Championship night featuring the Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Cars takes to the track at Ohsweken Speedway on Friday night, while the Southern Ontario Sprints get back to action at Brighton Speedway on Saturday, and the ISMA Supermodifieds come back to Cayuga Speedway this Sunday for the fist time since 2005.

As usual, you can reach me via e-mail at tommygoudge@hotmail.com
See you at the races!

Why Sprint Cars Don’t Have Mirrors

2009-02-19T13:56:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (February 19, 2009) -

Sunday’s Junior/Vickers fiasco at Daytona was a great example of the negative effect mirrors and spotters have had on “big league” racing:

"That's superspeedway racing," Vickers insisted. "You watch your mirror [and] you try to keep the guy behind you, behind you. My goal is not to let him pass me. People blocked me the whole race -- they'd turn left and try to keep me behind them. That's part of superspeedway racing.”

“Superspeedway racing” has been a contradiction in terms for quite some time, if you ask me. Blocking has become to mainstream auto racing what the “clutch and grab” was to hockey until the NHL stepped in with a long overdue crackdown a few years ago. NASCAR has created this monster which gets worse every year, and nobody in charge there seems to have any appetite for changing anything. And why should they? Each Superspeedway race is nailbiting and features an incredibly close finish. Plus NASCAR needs a good rivalry, and it appears they might have one now – hopefully nobody gets hurt.

Other Speedweeks Notes and Observations:

- Ask.com must have spent one hell of a lot of money lately. Between sponsoring the #96 car for Bobby Labonte, signing on as the “official search engine of NASCAR”, and frequent mentions on both Fox and Speed on the weekend, they got more coverage than perhaps any other sponsor I’ve seen on a NASCAR broadcast in quite some time. Also on the sponsorship theme, reports that NASCAR title sponsor Sprint/Nextel is going down the crapper have been surfacing for quite some time (including in last week’s edition of National Speed Sport News), and it didn’t look good for them Sunday on Fox when the “race break” reports were sponsored by archrival AT&T.

- Local message boards are awash with congratulatory messages for John Ryan “J.R.” Fitzpatrick of Cambridge, who finished 4th in the 200 mile Truck Series go at Daytona on Friday night. Fitzpatrick is a product of the Southern Ontario stock car scene, and appears to have a legitimate shot at moving up through the ranks of NASCAR in a way that no Canadian really ever has. Fitzpatrick scores points with yours truly for giving it a go in a Can-Am Midget at Flamboro last season. Todd Bodine won the race, and it was in typical Bodine fashion – He triggered a massive wreck midway through the event which took out many contenders, including defending series champion and part-time Supermodified driver Johnny Benson.

- Wondering where Ryan Coniam has been since the Jacques Villeneuve NASCAR effort didn’t turn out very well? The former sprint car racer from Burlington is working for Michael Waltrip’s team, where he’s been assigned to Germain Racing to help Max Papis get started in stock car racing. Coniam makes a cameo this week in Norris McDonald’s column in the Toronto Star

- The attention of most race fans over the past few weeks has been on the big track at Daytona, but tons of short track racing was also going on in the area, especially at Volusia Speedway Park, New Smyrna Speedway, and a bit further away at East Bay Raceway Park near Tampa. Other venues in action included Orlando Speedworld, Ocala Speedway - back to dirt after a few years of pavement - and Desoto Super Speedway to name a few. Most of the action goes unnoticed by the mainstream race fans, but thanks to http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/ there is some video from the goings-on at Volusia available online - night #5’s sprint car feature is especially entertaining. Hopefully some video will surface from the Richie Evans Memorial 100, which featured a great battle between Ronnie Silk and Ted Christopher at the end of the race, with Christopher taking the win after swapping the lead with Silk 4 times over the last 8 laps.

- In case you’re one of those people wondering why Ryan Newman’s new number in the Cup series is 39, he didn’t just pull it out of thin air: http://www.bjwor.com/usacmwin.html . Newman had a rough Speedweeks, so rough in fact that the former USAC star had to forgo his plans to race in the Richie Evans Memorial 100 at New Smyrna on Friday night. Newman won the Tour Modified feature at New Smyrna on Monday driving a car co-owned by Kevin “Bono” Manion and Gary Putnam, crew chief and car chief respectively on the #1 Cup series entry of Martin Truex, Jr. Both Manion and Putnam are former Modified crew chiefs from the Northeast, and have their car painted black with a red “7ny” on the side in tribute to Tom Baldwin, Sr. who was killed in a crash at Thompson, CT in August of 2004. They plan to bring the car back out for Newman to drive in the NASCAR Whelen Tour race scheduled at Bristol in August.

Elsewhere…

- It’s really quite depressing for me to think about what Indy cars have become. Ride-buying hit an all time low recently when Robin Miller reported that Milka Dunno is signing on with the Newman/Haas team in the IRL for 2009. Paul Newman must be rolling over in his grave.

- The Empire Super Sprints have a partial schedule posted on their website, but it should not be mistaken for the "official" 2009 schedule, as some dates are sure to be added at traditional ESS tracks such as Brockville and Cornwall, neither of which are listed as of yet. New additions for ’09 include a return to Ransomville Speedway on June 19, and a big money “Quebec 360 Nationals” event in August at Autodrome Drummond, advertised with a $27,800 purse paying $6,000 to win, $500 to start the A-Main, and $200 to show up. It is not a full ESS points show, but will offer show-up points towards the ESS championship. Ransomville’s sprint car events had been limited to the ASCS Patriots over the last few years, and before that the Southern Ontario Sprints also paid the Buffalo-area track some visits. The last ESS event at Ransomville was July 21, 2000 and was won by Steve Dow.

- Big news out of Oswego these days, as a $10,000-to-win "King of the Wings" Supermodified event has been added to the schedule on July 11. Unfortunately for Southern Ontario fans, a choice has to be made as the Auto Value Super Sprints and NEMA Midgets are rumoured to be competing at Cayuga Speedway the same day, while the ISMA Supers will race at Cayuga the following day. ISMA teams planning to run the King of the Wings show will have a long week of travel ahead of them, starting on the Tuesday night at Stafford, CT before heading to Oswego for Saturday night's event, and then on to Cayuga for what will likely be an afternoon event on Sunday.

- Ryan Litt noticed a lack of open wheel racers in Inside Track Motorsport News' "Readers Choice Awards", so he contacted editor Greg MacPherson about it and was asked for a list of drivers he felt would fit into an open wheel category. Ryan came up with some names of Canadian open wheel racers who saw success in 2008 and asked me for a couple of additions, and this is what we've come up with:

Steve Poirier (ESS 360 Sprints) - 11 wins, 2nd ESS championship in a row.

Lou Kennedy, Jr. (NOSA 410 sprints) - 3 wins, 2008 NOSA Champion

Steven Mathews (USAC Ford Focus Midgets) - 2 wins, 13 top 5's, and 4th in Midwest Series points.

Gord Kynoch (AST 360 Sprints) - 2008 AST Champion, and first Albertan to compete in the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals.

Alison McLeod (USAC Regional Midgets) - 3 Wins, 3rd in Anderson Midget 400, 2nd in USAC Regional points, and Winner of 'Kara Hendrick' Award

Ryan Litt (AVSS & USAC 410 Sprints) 3 Wins, 2nd in AVSS points, 4th in Anderson Speedway Little 500

Steve Arpin (USAC Silver Crown) - 2008 USAC Silver Crown Rookie of The Year. (Also won 6 Modified events despite missing almost 2 months recovering from burns suffered in a Florida Speedweeks event at Volusia.)

Mark Sammut (ISMA Supermodifieds) 1 Win, 4th in ISMA points.

Weigh in with your opinions by e-mailing me at tommygoudge@hotmail.com or media@ohswekenspeedway.com

- I was fortunate on Tuesday when a friend called with an offer of a free ticket to that night's Maple Leafs/Sabres game, which I could not refuse. Once at the game (and having paid $13.75 for ONE beer), I started thinking about how people spend their money. There we were, surrounded by 19,000 people who paid the highest ticket prices in the NHL to see a team in the midst of yet another losing season giving a particularly lacklustre effort, and losing 4-1 in the end. Sure makes the $10 it costs to get into Ohsweken Speedway on a Friday night look like the world's greatest bargain eh? None of the racers are just there to play out the string, that's for sure...

- Speed Channel aired the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals on Saturday night and again earlier this week a few times, and has 1 more re-air scheduled: Sunday, March 15 @ 12:00 p.m. It’s worth watching.

As always, you can reach me by sending an e-mail to tommygoudge@hotmail.com or media@ohswekenspeedway.com. Racing season will be here before we know it...I hope...

The Sights and Smells of Racing...in January?!

2009-01-27T08:50:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (January 27, 2009) -

A quick whiff of high-octane racing gasoline exhaust as they were moving race cars out of the Western Fair Agriplex on Sunday evening was enough to get me into a racing frame of mind for a few days. Unfortunately since I'm not one of the fortunate ones taking off to Florida this week for the start of Speedweeks (Glenn Styres is counted in that group), the only racing I'll see for awhile is on my tv, or on YouTube. Of course, the reason race cars invaded the Agriplex this weekend was the CPT Racing Experience, which many agreed proved to be a successful and worthwhile venture for racers and fans alike.

A larger venue than the upstairs hall at the Convention Centre that was used in its first edition last year, the Agriplex seemed to be a good venue for the show...In some circles, the facility's worthiness as an indoor racing venue was also discussed. The ventilation system in the building looks to be more than adequate for such a venture, but a large number of support beams would present a problem.

Sprint Car racing was a big part of the show this year, with no less than 8 full size sprinters on display along with countless Micro and Mini Sprints, a couple of TQ Midgets from the Can-Am series, and the Mark Sammut Supermodified. Sprint Cars on hand included those of Ryan Litt, Keith Dempster, James "PeeWee" Evans, Mike Ferrell, Adam West, Brian Welch, and 2 cars from the Justin Martin camp.

The 2nd Martin car is the former Turford #29, and will be piloted this year by Justin's brother Jason, as Daryl Turford is now out on the road with Sam Hafertepe, Jr. and the World of Outlaws. Tentative plans for the Martins are to run weekly at Ohsweken this season, along with PeeWee Evans who has sold his Super Late Model and will be concentrating on Sprint Cars this year.

Besides the sprint cars, wings also appeared on Supermodifieds, TQ Midgets, and a wide variety of Mini and Micro Sprints. Dirt track racing in general was also well represented at the show by the Dirt Late Model of Kirk Hooker, and the Debbie Brush-owned #92 Late Model piloted by Adam West at a handful of shows last season. Also on display was the DIRT Sportsman Modified of Jay Doerr campaigned at Merrittville last season, and the UMP Modified of Jeff Daniels, who will race weekly at his home track in South Buxton instead of heading out on the road with a sprint car this year.

Some nasty wrecks this past season and a reality check from Mrs. Daniels were convincing factors in that decision, but we still hope to see Jeff back in a sprint car some day, as he was starting to get pretty competitive before the wrecks set him back!

Bob Sanders and Joe Chisolm were both on hand from Race Time Radio, and both said they would like to learn more about dirt racing and promised they will be attending some dirt races this year...I'll be holding them to that! They conducted quite a few interviews at the show, which they are replaying this week and next on the show, which goes live on Mondays, but is also available on demand on their website. Some photos from the show can be found on the Race Time site, as well as on the Canadian Racer website: www.CanadianRacer.com

Other quick hits from the CPT show:

...while chatting with the Sammut team, I spied a Corr/Pak Merchandising sticker on the car. Title sponsor of the Ohsweken Speedway Sprint Car division, Corr/Pak owner and open wheel fan John Brush is also supporting the ISMA point fund this season...

...Also of interest from the Sammut team is news of a new car in the works at the Sammut shop. It won't likely be done and race ready for this season, but with independant front suspension and inboard rear suspension, it is sure to be a beautiful piece...

...Ryan Litt has been pursuing some seat time with some USAC teams lately, but was shocked (as was I) to learn what sort of funding drivers are required to come up with to have a seat with a team like the California-based Western Speed team. Suffice to say, ride-buying is not strictly a problem in the "big leagues"...

...The Ferrell and West teams decided to have a match race on the indoor go-kart track that was set up for the show, but it ended under controversial circumstances. The track staff didn't have much of a sense of humour it seemed, and banned one of the drivers, who shall remain nameless so as not to tarnish his good name. Don't feel too bad guys - I have it on good authority that one of the Race Time Radio guys wrecked one all by himself on Sunday afternoon...

...The '09 Ohsweken Speedway schedule was released just prior to this weekend's show, and it looks like it's going to be a fun sophomore season for me as an announcer at the track. 11 full points-paying nights are on tap for the Corr/Pak Sprints this year, and a partnership with South Buxton Raceway which will see their UMP-sanctioned Modified and Late Model divisions each visit the Speedway should be fun as well...

Until next time, as always you can send questions, comments, and other such messages can be sent to me at tommygoudge@hotmail.com

Glass Not Half Empty

2008-12-17T23:38:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (December 18, 2008) -

There sure is a lot of doom and gloom in the "big leagues" these days, with manufacturer support threatened or already gone in many racing series, and layoffs at many team headquarters. I can't say I feel quite the same about this little corner of the motorsports world. Oh sure, things aren't exactly rosy and I'm probably a little on the "glass half full" side of the argument, but I personally don't think we are living or dying by the economy the way the big-money series are.

For one thing, sponsors - while important - are not always plentiful in short track racing, and a lot of racers aren't necessarily out on the track because of sponsors. While helpful, sponsors at this level generally augment a racing program, rather than fund it the way they do higher up the food chain. There are also very few racers at this level who have any grandiose dreams about making money as a racer. The much larger problem with a bad economy is that racers at this level have real jobs - often in the automotive industry or in manufacturing - many of which are now in jeopardy.

Interestingly, the roots of midget racing can be traced back to the depression years - Back then, crowds of 10,000 or more regularly filled stadiums across America to watch Doodlebug (midget) racing on short tracks, and racing was just one form of entertainment that benefitted greatly from the bad economic times back then. Granted, it isn't the 30's anymore, but there are things to be learned from this phenomenon: In tough times, the public wants sports and entertainment as a diversion. It's been proven by many economists that entertainment is one of the last things most people will cut out of their budget when the economy is not performing. So, if your "brand" of entertainment can survive an economic downturn and still provide an entertaining product at a good price, it might be well positioned to draw spectators.

The trouble with big league sports (and especially big league motorsports) is that they are in bed with large corporations and other entities that are tied directly to the state of the economy...AND they got too big for their own good during the extended period of economic growth that some may have fantasized would never end. While I am sympathetic towards those who worked in the NASCAR industry and are now laid off, I do think that the teams and other NASCAR entities grew too big too fast, and now they are paying for it, but in the end the series as a whole may benefit from this reality check.

Having said all that, the bad economy is sure to hurt short track racing in some ways. The news out of Mansfield, Ohio today is that Mansfield Motorsports Speedway will be closing down. Earlier this week it was announced that the NASCAR Truck Series event which has taken place at the track annually since 2004 would not return in 2009, as a sponsor for the event could not be found. While I do not know for sure, I would suspect the event was a big revenue-generator for the Speedway, and without it the track is probably not likely to break even. No word from ISMA as to what - if anything - will replace the Mansfield date on their tentative 2009 schedule. The race was to be on Saturday, August 8 after the tour visited Delaware Speedway the night before.

ISMA's 2009 schedule includes 3 Canadian dates, with the August 7 date at Delaware and a July 12 visit to Cayuga joining the now annual visit to Delaware on the last weekend of September. Cayuga's full schedule is supposed to be released soon, but for open wheel fans the news is already good, as the NEMA Midgets, AVSS Sprints, and Can-Am Midgets are all said to be joining ISMA for an "Open Wheel weekend" at the track, which is still the largest oval facility in the country - at least for now.

Does it seem to anyone else that the NHL is going down a slippery slope with this Sean Avery thing? "Conduct Detrimental to the Sport" is a familiar phrase to NASCAR fans, and it seems to be that NASCAR has been making up the rules as they go along for quite some time. Now it seems the NHL is going down the same path by suspending Avery for his silly comments...While I don't condone Avery's remarks, it seems that the NHL is more concerned about what happens off the ice than what happens on it, which is much like what has been going on in NASCAR for awhile now.

A belated congratulations are in order for Londoner Mark Sammut, who won his first ever Supermodified feature last month at Kenly, NC. Sammut ended his season on a strong note, finishing 3rd in the ISMA finale at Thompson, CT in October and 4th in the 2nd annual East-West Shootout at Concord, NC. Look for an official team website for the Sammuts to make it's debut in the new year.

The indoor racing season gets going in earnest tomorrow night on two fronts, as Midget racing takes centre stage on the concrete at Toledo's Seagate Center, and on the dirt at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. 2008 SOS Champion Glenn Styres of Ohsweken will be racing in Kansas City driving as a teammate to Wayne Johnson, Brad Kuhn, Shane Hmiel, and Justin Barger. Styres will also be racing with that Scott Benic team in the Chili Bowl next month, an event that will be tape delayed one week and shown on the Speed Channel. No Canadians in Toledo, but Ryan Litt of Lyons, ON will strap on Eddie Griffith's #41 the following weekend at Fort Wayne, IN, in another Rumble Series event.

Glenn Styres also made news promoter of the Ohsweken Speedway this week, garnering the National 360 Sprint Car Poll '360' Promoter of the Year award. Styres is always quick to point out that Ken and Cheryl Pelkie are the big reasons why he is a perennial award winner in this category. The Pelkies have been busy this month, representing Ohsweken in Reno for the RPM Promoters Workshops, and Orlando for the Performance Racing Industry convention. 2008 marked the first year of weekly 360 sprint car racing at the Styres family owned facility, and was a great success, with great racing and full fields every night.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone. See you all at the CPT Racing Experience next month at the Western Fair here in London. Until then, you can find me at tommygoudge@hotmail.com.

A Look Back And A Look Forward

2008-10-21T10:04:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (November 1, 2008) -

Despite rain getting in the way of a lot of events this year, it was an interesting and fun season for open wheel fans in Ontario in 2008. The best month of the season for weather may have been October, when sunny days tormented race fans in the province as most tracks finished their seasons early in the month or had already closed at the end of September. The strange weather continues in the first week of November, as forecasted highs are reaching into the upper teens, even after we got our first snow of the winter last week. Flamboro Speedway's "Frost Fest" today and tomorrow suddenly isn't looking to be very "frosty".

Rick Wilson bookended the 2008 open wheel season in Ontario by taking the SOS opener at Brighton on May 10, and claiming victory in the inaugural SOS/ESS Can-Am Challenge on October 18. In between though, The Joyceville Jet didn't win another feature, finishing the year with his lowest single-season win total since his sophomore season in 2000, when he won just once. Still competitive wherever he goes though, the proprietor of the Riverside Bar and Grill in Gananoque recorded 11 "top 5's" and 15 "top 10's" in 19 starts this season. The 2 wins came in 2 different cars, as Wilson and Jared Fink were involved in a spectacular crash on the Friday of Canadian Sprint Car Nationals weekend, which prompted Wilson to purchase a former Jack Pillon chassis that evening. The team built basically a complete car overnight, making a successful return on Saturday night by making the A-Main and finishing 15th.

Steve Poirier narrowly missed taking over the top spot on my Ontario open wheel feature winner's list at Brockville by coming home 2nd to Wilson, and keeping him in a tie at the top of the heap with Glenn Styres. Both drivers claimed 5 feature wins in the province this year, but while Styres did not win any outside of the province, Poirier had 6 more for a total of 11 in what was a truly amazing season for the Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloiel, Quebec driver. Poirier competed in 29 events this season according to http://www.openwheeltimes.com/, winning 11, along with 21 "Top 5's" and 26 "Top 10's". Large paydays eluded the team this year, however as Poirier failed in his bid for a Three-Peat at the Canadian Nationals, and had trouble in the $3,000-to-win Sprint Car Challenge at the Rolling Wheels Raceway on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

Canadian teams and drivers were busy during their Thanksgiving weekend, as many were part of a great field of 76 cars at Rolling Wheels, while Adam West and Warren Mahoney went to Eldora for the first ever "Sprintacular" event presented by the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) featuring the NRA 360's, with the 305 sprints as a support class. Neither driver was successful in cracking the tough A-Main lineup, which included only 20 cars out of a field of 37, topped by feature winner Greg Wilson. The top 5, in fact, was swept by drivers who competed in mostly 410 events this season, as Brock Mayes, Mike Brecht, Butch Schroeder, and Mike Dussell rounded out those spots. At Rolling Wheels, the best finisher from Southern Ontario was Dave Dykstra in 18th. Dykstra, of Port Colborne, was impressive in his rookie season at the controls of a sprinter, and should knock on the door for feature wins in 2009.

For Ohsweken Speedway, the move to weekly sprint car racing was a successful one as the new Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprints division drew an average of 25.1 cars per race, with 5 different winners in the 7 features that weren't affected by weather. Major dates for the Speedway were announced on Thursday, which will include the World of Outlaws Late Models, World of Outlaws Sprints, 2nd Annual Summer Nationals changing to a one-day format next year, and 5th Annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals. The first Friday Night Thunder event of the season is slated for May 15, and will once again include the Corr/Pak Sprints, Thunder Stocks, Mini-Stocks, and Bombers (formerly Fun Stocks).

It remains to be seen who will be a regular at the Speedway in 2009 as a couple of weekly visitors in 2008 are rumoured to be moving on: Rob Pietz is likely returning to the 358 Modified class, while Brad Malloy may be retiring from racing, unfortuately. Malloy would like to continue, but needs additional funding to keep his program going properly. A departure by Malloy would be especially unfortunate because he was just starting to show what he and the #5m are capable of, including his first sprint car feature win on August 22, and a spectacular heat race victory on Saturday night of the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals.

A couple of new sprint car competitors from the Eastern side of the province made their debuts in the Brockville event on October 18, including Brockville modified regulars Paul Pekkonen and Tyler Rand, and another Quebec invader in the form of Sylvain Ericksen. Pekkonen recently purchased Brian Lee's #8, perhaps most well known for a scary trip into the creek at Brighton a few years ago, while Rand was in a former Kevin Job mount, and Ericksen was behind the wheel of the Normand Beaudreault #50. Rand had a shaky start, but is sure to improve, while Pekkonen and Ericksen both finished the feature and did not look out of place.

More Eastern competitors are sure to spring up as news leaked out this week that a new 305 Sprint Car club will be taking to the Speedways of Quebec and Eastern Ontario next season. An announcement is forthcoming on November 16, at which time a schedule of approximately 14 races, with another 4-5 possible, along with information about a title sponsor for the group. Jake Langlois is the man behind this idea, and he can be reached at 418-667-8621 or jake_langlois@hotmail.com if you are looking for more information.

Rumours had previously surfaced over the last year or two with regard to a possible 360 group starting up in the same area, but in my mind this 305 group is a better idea, as they will be using the "RaceSaver" rules originally created by Virginia's French Grimes, and should become a feeder group for what has already become a solid hotbed for sprint car racers over the past few years, without taking away from the Empire Super Sprints the way a full fledged 360 club would have. I'm not really up on my RaceSaver knowledge, but apparently a competitive engine can be had for under $6,000, and the rules are designed in such a way that those who want to spend cubic dollars don't seem to benefit much, if at all.

There is still a bit of short track racing left to watch on tv now that our local Speedways are all closed for the season, including one live event, as the World of Outlaws World Finals from the Dirt Track at Lowe's in Charlotte is live on Speed Channel for the second year in a row...Below is a list of short track races left to watch on tv this year. All of the broadcasts are on Speed Channel unless otherwise noted.

Super DIRT Week Rite Aid 200 Big Block Modifieds, Syracuse, NY - 4:00 p.m. Saturday, November 1

World of Outlaws, Hartford, OH - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, November 1

World of Outlaws, Rossburg, OH - 7:00 p.m. Saturday, November 1

World of Outlaws World Finals, Charlotte, NC - 8:00 p.m. Saturday, November 1

World of Outlaws World Finals (replay), Charlotte, NC - 1:00 a.m. Sunday, November 2

World of Outlaws Late Models World Finals (replay), Charlotte, NC - 9:00 p.m. Saturday, November 8

If you all are interested in NASCAR or Formula 1 stuff on tv, you can find that on your own, however I will make mention of the NHRA broadcasts coming up on TSN, November 7th @ 1:00p.m. and November 20th @ 12:30p.m.

Keep an eye out for a couple of familiar looking cars in the Sprint portion of the WoO broadcasts, as Glenn Styres and Wayne Johnson are on hand in Charlotte this weekend, with Styres sporting the colours of the Rochester Americans, a team now owned by Glenn's brother Curt, while Johnson is at the wheel of the Myles Hill #77x Iroquios Poker ride which was driven to 4 feature wins this season by Ryan Hunsinger with a 360 engine under the hood.

Styres is still adjusting to the increased power of the 410 and did not make it out of the C-Main last night, while Johnson was 6th fastest in Thursday's time trial round 1, but had trouble in his heat last night. Johnson, this year's Canadian Sprint Car Nationals winner in a Styres backup ride, rebounded to win the B-Main and claim a 10th place finish in last night's feature. Johnson will have a bit of work to do tonight after his time trial lap in the 2nd session on Thursday was only 21st quickest, but I'm looking for him to be in the top ten again by the time tonight's feature is over.

On a related note, Styres tested his 410 engine at Ohsweken last week (the conveniences of having a dirt track in your front yard), and ran an unofficial best lap of 12.560 seconds, almost .4 under the existing 410 track record run in 2007 by Danny Lasoski during the inaugural World of Outlaws visit to the Speedway. Styres lap is good for an average of over 107 mph on the 3/8's mile track, and makes me wonder what is truly possible at the Speedway - under the right circumstances, could we see 12.0 or 11.9?

Race season might be over around here, but I'll still be busy for the next few weeks with the Southern Ontario Sprints annual meeting and Awards Banquet on November 8th in Niagara Falls, and the Ohsweken Speedway awards banquet on November 15th in Ancaster, while a possible trip to Toledo on December 19th and 20th for the first Rumble in Toledo indoor USAC Midget event at the Seagate Center could be in the cards as well. As usual, you can drop me a line by sending a message to tommygoudge@hotmail.com. See you at the races...

Apartment for Rent

2008-09-07T11:39:00.000-04:00

Just a quick drive-by today... Norris McDonald was able to get away from talking about F1 and other such drivel last weekend and wrote two columns related to Oswego's International Classic. The subject of this one is Jack Conely: http://www.wheels.ca/Article%20Category/article/334903

Also of note...Chris Perley obliterated the Oswego track record last Friday night in the winged portion of the weekend with a 15.198 second lap. Using Oswego's official designation of being a 5/8's mile track, that equates to a breathtaking average speed of 148.045 MPH. According to some, it's really more of a 1/2 mile in the groove though...

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2008-08-25T08:08:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (August 25, 2008) -

Friday night at Ohsweken was one of the most fun nights at a race I've had in a long time. We couldn't have asked for better weather, and with a 0% chance of rain in the forecast, a nice crowd turned up to watch the action. They looked a little lost out there in those big 7,500+ seat grandstands, but the fact remains that a lot of people were there on Friday night. It's interesting to note too that at the same time, Delaware Speedway had a packed house on their Two for One night - There's a lot of doom and gloom in short track racing these days, and it's nice to see and hear some positivity. The fans are out there...They just need to be cultivated.

The racing action at Ohsweken on Friday was great as usual...except my foray into the world of the Fun Stocks, but we won't go there. I didn't finish dead last, I didn't lose a limb, the car was still running when I parked it after the race, and I made $10, so I consider it a success. Heck, I might even do it again...The REAL racers put on a good show, including the Thunder Stock drivers, who are consistently the best race of the night these days. The addition of some of the Niagara-area drivers has been good for the class. I hope it's something that continues next season, but I have a feeling that a lot of the younger ones like Michael Bosse and Billy Bleich, Jr. are destined for bigger things, and we already know this is Cody McPherson's last year in the division before he moves up to Sportsman Modifieds.

Speaking of drivers moving up, fans at Ohsweken on Friday heard dominant Mod-Lite driver Paul Klager mention that he and his team are looking at moving up to the Sprint Car division in the future. Could we see a "Ripley's Believe it or Not" sprinter at Ohsweken next season?

People like Paul are obviously aware of how well a lot of drivers from their area have done after moving up to sprints; The latest addition to the list of Niagara-area drivers who have won a sprint car race is Brad Malloy, who outlasted Glenn Styres to take the Corr/Pak feature win on Friday night. Malloy made the middle groove work better than most seem able to at Ohsweken, and battled back each time Styres nosed ahead. It was a great race to watch, and it was fun to see people like Malloy and his team get rewarded for a lot of hard work and perseverance.

As great as Friday night was, the rest of the weekend was a bit of a downer. Sunny skies were overhead for most of our 150 mile jaunt to Owendale Speedway in Michigan's "Thumb" on Saturday for a SOD event...Owendale being one of the only dirt tracks within that distance of home I had yet to visit. Mother Nature didn't co-operate once we arrived, and seemed to concentrate most of her precipitation directly over the track, washing out the event. Owendale is a bit of a step back in time in terms of fan amenities, but the track surface itself looks like a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll have a chance to get back there next season.

Almost the same thing happened on Sunday night when I decided at the last minute to head for Humberstone, where the Patriot sprints were scheduled to run the last sprint car show of Humberstone's season. A storm went through the area around 4:00 and washed out the show, diverting me from Jordan Station back towards Hamilton and more specifically Flamboro, where I knew the Can-Am Midgets were holding an open invitational. A decent field of 20 TQ Midgets were on hand with some ATQMRA and Lancaster cars in attendance.

The open race was a bit of a test for Can-Am to see what to do about engines going forward, as their current Kawasakis are getting hard to find. It was obvious right from the get-go that whatever engine formula the ATQMRA group uses is faster than what the locals have, as the New Jersey drivers dominated. I'd be interested to know some opinions on what effect their larger wings had on how fast they got around Flamboro as well though. Although it was hard to tell with a rather quiet PA system and nobody bothering to interview the winner, I am pretty sure that Don Adams of Robbinsville, NJ took the feature win after barely holding off one of his fellow AQTMRA drivers in a #46 car for the win in lapped traffic.

Adams started near the front and quickly got out front, opening a huge gap, but behind him the #46 was slicing through the field. Over the last 10 laps, he erased a 3 second gap and nearly snuck by Adams for the win. The fact that the winner wasn't interviewed got even more frustrating when Flamboro's announcer immediately went down to the frontstretch to do out-of-car driver interductions for the Late Model race with a flawless-sounding wireless mic once the midgets had gone back to the pits. These guys (and a gal too) came all the way from New Jersey to support Flamboro Speedway and the Can-Am club, and nobody talks to them on the mic so the fans can show their appreciation and find out a bit about them? Why does the Can-Am club even have a travelling announcer? Incidentally, that caution-filled Late Model feature is the closest I have ever come to leaving a track before a race was over. In the end, I stuck it out and watched as the 2nd place car nudged the leader out of the way with under 5 laps to go and went on for the win. Thankfully, the "Bump and Run" is not part of open wheel racing 90% of the time (Fred Rahmer might say different). The stock car folks can keep that tactic to themselves.

So now that I've emptied my bucket of discontent, hate-mail can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com. One of the interesting things for me at Flamboro was getting to see some of the drivers who run on the dirt at Ohsweken every Friday racing on Flamboro's pavement. The most successful of these is Dave Bailey, who started 17th in the Mini-Stock race and still won the race - his 10th of the Flamboro season - by a huge margin. Other drivers I've seen on the dirt at Ohsweken earlier this year in action at Flamboro included Ron Larkin, Jr., Mike Taylor, Erinn Bailey, Nick Roth, Mark Czuba, and maybe more...it was hard to hear names on the PA at times.

Next weekend is a big one, with the Ontario Dirt Late Models joining the Sprints, Thunder Stocks, Mini-Stocks, and Fun Stocks at Ohsweken on Friday night, and the Southern Ontario Sprints Labour Day Classic weekend at Brighton on Saturday and Sunday. Joining the SOS on Sunday will be a $1,000 to win Duel on the Dirt street stock race featuring visiting drivers from Merrittville versus the Brighton regulars. It'll be interesting to watch how some of the drivers from Niagara fare at a different track. I've seen a handful of Brighton teams go to Merrittville, with little success.

With 3 features for the SOS to run in the 2 days, I'm sure the points battle between Glenn Styres and Warren Mahoney is going to come right down to the wire, and it should be a fun weekend...It'll almost make me forget that I'm not watching the Classic at Oswego...speaking of which, there are already 39 names on that pre-entry list. So much for all the negativity about not having a full field for Classic!

Weather Beaten

2008-08-16T12:54:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (August 16, 2008) -

So we got rained out again at Ohsweken last night. I guess we all need to pool our pennies together to build a roof over the racetrack or something. It's not your imagination, according to the Weather Network, it really is raining a lot this year: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/raining

With 25 sprints in the pits last night, it was looking to be a fun night. Something to keep an eye on would have been the first ever sprint car start for Jim Huppunen, younger brother of 1999 Canadian Sprint Car Championship winner Tom. Jim was going to be in Fred Cade's #12c for the evening, but that debut will have to wait for another day.

Dain Naida once again made the tow from the Detroit suburb of Belleville up to Ohsweken only to get rained out. Dain will try again tonight with the ASCS Sprints on Dirt series up at the Merritt Speedway, 326 miles from Ohsweken. A few years ago, father and I visited Merritt after the wet stuff interfered with an AVSS race at Auto City. Merritt is a neat place I recommend visiting if you're looking around for things to do in Northern Michigan, but it sure was a long drive home that night. We'll look forward to a return to Ohsweken by the Naida team next Friday before the SoD series competes at Owendale, Michigan next Saturday. As one of very few tracks within about 150 miles of my house that I have yet to visit, I may join them up there in "the thumb".

Making a 326 mile tow from Ohsweken to Merritt look like a walk in the park, the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series teams are in the middle of a gruelling schedule of 7 races in 12 days out West. The "mini tour" began in Fargo, North Dakota at the Red River Valley Speedway on Tuesday night before heading 580 miles West to Gillette, Wyoming, where the feature was rained out on Thursday night. From there, the teams and tour staff are travelling 388 miles back East to the Dacotah Speedway just outside of Bismark, North Dakota to race tonight. Tomorrow, they'll make a "leisurely" 114 mile haul up to the Nodak Speedway in Minot, home track of a certain Mr. Schatz, to race tomorrow night.

After packing up Sunday, another 450 mile tow awaits as the tour heads to Billings, Montana on Tuesday night, and then another 702 miles from Billings to Edmonton, where the tour will race next Friday and Saturday in the 2nd annual Oil City Cup presented by Boston Pizza at Castrol Raceway. Hopefully the folks in Edmonton will have better luck with the weather than we did at Ohsweken.

By the time they're done in Edmonton, the WoO travelling road show will have covered over 2,200 miles and raced at 6 different tracks in 3 states and 1 province. One wonders if Daryl Turford looked at this part of the schedule before departing Ontario to work on the Sam Hafertepe, Jr. crew last month. Hope you're having fun out there buddy! At least you have 5 off days to cover the 736 miles from Edmonton to Skagit Speedway in Washington State!

With more consistent finishes lately including a 4th place at Anderson Speedway on Wednesday night, Mississauga driver Alison McLeod is up to 2nd in USAC Regional Midget series points. With 2 races left to go, it's unlikely she can catch Travis Young for the title, but 2nd place is not the first loser in this case. I look forward to finally seeing Alison in action at the Berlin Raceway in Michigan on September 27th. The week before that on the 20th, I hope to have a chance to head to Fremont Speedway in Ohio for their season championship event. Paying $15,000 to win, it is sure to be a barn-burner, and at one of my favourite tracks to boot!

Lots of great points races are going on in Ontario open wheel divisions this season. In Southern Ontario Sprints points, Glenn Styres leads Warren Mahoney by just 8 makers, while at Ohsweken, the Corr/Pak standings are even closer with Keith Dempster in front by 5 points over Ryan Hunsinger, and Kevin Job just 6 behind "The Gunslinger". The Can-Am Midgets also feature a tight championship chase as Daniel Bois is just 9 markers ahead of James Gray. The Midgets will run a non-points open invitational at Flamboro on Sunday, August 24th (to make up for an August 9 rainout) with some interesting rules...to paraphrase the Can-Am website, "We will allow you to try anything...just no V-8's!!"

After considering various options including Oswego Speedway's championship night, twin features for the Can-Am Midgets at Barrie, and Lancaster Speedway...I mean Dunn Tire Raceway Park modified racing, I've decided to give my car and wallet a rest tonight. See you at Ohsweken next Friday night. Until then, you can reach me via e-mail at TommyGoudge@hotmail.com

Canadian McLeod Entered in 400 Lapper at Anderson

2008-07-25T10:07:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (July 25, 2008) -

It's hard to believe it's almost the end of July already...Where has the season gone? It has been a fun first few months working at Ohsweken and with the Southern Ontario Sprints, and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season. The biggest disapointment of the year is definitely the World of Outlaws rainout this week at Ohsweken.

It was looking to be a huge event as advanced ticket sales were very strong, and on Tuesday night there were literally hundreds of motorhomes and campers at the track, along with the Speed Channel crew. Mother Natures didn't co-operate with us though, and we are left instead to wonder what could have been. Hopefully we can try it again next season. At least we can all take some consolation in the fact that the rest of this season should be very entertaining. The points battles in both the Ohsweken standings and in the Southern Ontario Sprints are very close, and this year's edition of the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals should be the best one yet!

The change to weekly sprint car racing at Ohsweken has produced yet more growth in the class, and that growth is continuing even during the middle of the season. Over the past month, we've seen James (PeeWee) Evans get into a sprint car after success in the OSCAAR Super Late Model series, and microsprint driver Doug Bowman of London has also made the jump, while other area racers are also interested in switching over. Now we just need some fans to start coming out to watch these guys every week, because they've been doing a great job all year at Ohsweken...

Elsewhere, Mississauga driver Alison McLeod won her 2nd feature of the season on Wednesday night at Anderson, Indiana in a USAC Regional Midget series event. McLeod is one of many drivers entered in the first ever Anderson 400 Midget Classic slated for Saturday night. Modeled after the Little 500, the Midget 400 figures to become an instant success, and hopefully will become an annual tradition for years to come. Midgets are my favourite race cars, and I am in always in favour of adding more big events for them to run.

Sharp-eyed fans would note that McLeod wasn't the only Canadian driver racing in Indiana this week. Last night at Indianapolis Raceway Park (now called O'Reilley Raceway Park), Steve Arpin of Fort Frances, Ontario was in action driving the RE Technologies/Carl Edwards-owned #35 Silver Crown car. Arpin has thoroughly dominated IMCA and UMP type modified racing over the past couple of years, and apparently that has not gone unnoticed. Arpin qualified 21st and finished 16th last night.

A rare weekend off for open wheel racing in Ontario means I have a chance to go to the Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals at Sandusky, Ohio this weekend. In his excellent book about life in the NHL titled The Game, Ken Dryden describes the old Boston Garden as a "disheveled friend", and that is much the same way I look at Sandusky Speedway. It could use a coat of paint or two, and it's a little rough around the edges, but the important stuff all works, but on Saturday night of the Hy-Miler Nationals when there are 40+ Supermodifieds in the pits and thousands of fans in the grandstands, there is a buzz in the air that is hard to recreate. It's the atmosphere, not the venue, that makes for a great event. Where else can you see Johnny Benson fighting tooth and nail with journeyman Pat Lavery in the conci for the final transfer spot to the main event? It's things like that which come to mind a few years later when you're standing around in the pits chatting with people and waiting for it to stop raining.

While the Hy-Miler is assuredly going to be a great event again this year, many will be attending with heavy hearts after the death of Terry Gibson last Friday at Toledo. The Gibson family has been a huge part of open wheel racing in Ohio and elsewhere since the days when Terry's father Todd was winning dozens of races in his famed Flintstone Flyer, and there are sure to be a few drivers from the Gibson clan in action this weekend in both the supermodified and sprint car portions of the event. I'll be cheering for them...

It's June Already?!

2008-06-12T08:22:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (June 12, 2008) -

My first month of "work" at Ohsweken has been interesting...I think Greg and I (mostly Greg) have been able to do a pretty good job considering we've been working from the top row of the grandstands while the press box gets finished. TJ was right though - I did forget everything I knew for the first little while, and I'm still doing things I hate, but I'm feeling better with each passing night.

The racing in the Ohsweken sprint car division has been even better than I expected, with 4 different winners in 4 weeks, and lead changes during the last 5 laps of the feature in each of the last 3 events...It has also been nice to see 18-19 Thunder Stocks (street stocks) in the pits each week. After years of 13 cars or less in that division, it appears things are on the upswing, and last week's feature was one of the best races I've seen all year, in any racing division.

Allison McLeod of Mississauga was part of a 32 car field of USAC Regional Midgets last night at Anderson, Indiana. She took home 9th and 8th place finishes as the tour ran double features. She is now 3rd in USAC Regional points heading into this Saturday's event at Grundy County Speedwa in Illinois.

The Can-Am Midgets had a couple of "celebrities" competing with them at Flamboro on Saturday night. ISMA Supermodified and occasional USAC Silver Crown driver Mike Lichty of Innerkip, and NASCAR Canadian Tire series driver J.R. Fitzpatrick were both in the field. Both finished outside the top 10. Mike Hooper of Cambridge has also been running in the Can-Am series this year, after some occasional supermodified races at Oswego and with the ISMA Supermodifieds over the past few seasons.

After a couple of races with Californian A.J. Russel behind the wheel, Gary Morton will look to a fellow Canadian to pilot his #70 Supermodified tomorrow night at Toledo for the "Fastest Short Track Show in the World". Ryan Litt will be doing double duty, driving Mort's super, as well as the family-owned #07 sprint car. Litt was fast qualifer in the sprint car division last season at Toledo. Last Friday at Delaware, Litt looked to be on his way to victory before a suspension failure put him out of the race.

I have more to say but no time to type it right now....drop me a line at tommygoudge@hotmail.com if you have a question, comment, etc...

TG

“The Rookie”

2008-05-16T13:02:00.000-04:00

“The Rookie”

by Tommy Goudge (May 16, 2008), London, Ontario -

So, tonight I officially begin announcing at Ohsweken Speedway. To be honest, I’m probably not nearly as nervous as I am supposed to be. I think the nervousness is being overrun by my excitement to see Ohsweken’s new weekly sprint car division in action for the first time. TJ Slideways told me the other day that he was so nervous the first time he got on the mic that he did everything he hated and almost felt like he forgot everything he knew (which is a lot!!), so if I only forget half of what I know tonight, I think I’ll be ok! Having Greg up in the booth will probably help a lot too…I might get nervous if we fill all of those new seats in the grandstand though!

It has already been an interesting season for me, doing the media officer duties for the Southern Ontario Sprints, and a few behind the scenes things for Ohsweken. Leading up to the season, I did a few driver preview articles for the SOS and was very surprised when Bob Crawford told me last Saturday at Brighton that unbeknownst to both of us, the article I did on him ended up in the Sutton paper! He found out when somebody pointed to it and said “isn’t this you?” while he was out shopping one day. We both had a bit of a laugh over that one. Bob is such a soft-spoken, unassuming and friendly guy that I can just picture the situation in my head and it gives me a chuckle.

If this entire season is as much fun as Brighton was last Saturday, it’s going to be a great year. Some of the teams had a less than fun night unfortunately, as there were a few bent race cars and some mechanical gremlins, but it was great to meet everyone, and fun to be more involved than simply sitting in the stands watching (although I still like to do that on occasion, and will continue to do so). April Wilson’s car got the most bent up as she went for a wild ride after a meeting with one of the tractor tire barriers in turn 1 at Brighton. April went to the hospital but thankfully was released with a clean bill of health. I am sure those who know me are sick of hearing me rail away about my hatred of tractor tires, but I keep seeing more and more examples to back up my opinion! There are much better ways to keep cars out of the infield that are much less dangerous.

It might come as a surprise to those who know me, but in some ways I think I am actually more looking forward to the Mini-Stock and Thunder Stock divisions at Ohsweken this year than I am the sprint cars. Sprint Cars are my background and I can rhyme off driver names, numbers, and sponsors with ease. Getting to know the drivers in those divisions will be a challenge for me, but one that I am looking forward to. I also hope the Thunderstock division especially can grow over the next year or two because the cars and drivers that run in that division put on a great show each week at Ohsweken, and the show would be even better if there were as many Thunderstocks as there are Mini-Stocks. I hope one day I can say the words “Thunder Stock B-Main” at Ohsweken. I’m also really looking forward to seeing what all the new sprint car drivers are going to do this year…Mikey Kruchka, Dave Dykstra, and John Burbridge Jr, are just 3 of many drivers who moved up to sprints this year from other divisions. The Rookie of the Year battle at Ohsweken is going to be very good this season!

I’ll leave it there for now…I’m sure I will have a lot of things to say after tonight so I’ll keep this instalment at least somewhat brief. I will finish by saying that if you are interested in getting involved in local racing in any form, I highly recommend it – if I can do it, anyone can! If you have comments or questios, drop me a line at tommygoudge@hotmail.com. See you at the track!

The Moaning Has Begun...

2008-04-30T17:43:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (April 30, 2008) -

Apparently not all race fans are happy about the unification of American Open Wheel Racing. I have seen and heard various references to the phrase "Champ Car Forever" recently...Well, THIS is what Champ Car Forever means to me: http://www.pbase.com/consoli/image/287599

If you would like to send me a nasty brow-beating e-mail, I'm all ears (or eyes, as the case may be) at tommygoudge@hotmail.com. Just don't send it to me this weekend...I won't be able to hear you over the roar of big block Chevrolet's at Oswego Speedway.

April Showers

2008-04-19T19:48:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (April 20, 2008) -

Although I share Kevin Eckert's sentiments regarding The Weather Channel, I couldn't help but heed it's warning yesterday, and so did not make the drive to Fremont. While I was doing yard work and watching Hockey Night in Canada, they got three 305 sprint car heats in before the rain came and washed away the rest of the night. If there were any justice in this world, the Stanley Cup playoffs would at least be in the 2nd round right now. As seems to happen to me every year around this time, I'm starting to lose interest in the playoffs - It's hard to watch hockey when you've been walking around in shorts and sandals for almost a week.

Fremont's current track champion is Byron Reed, who subscribes to the Jon Stanbrough school of paint scheme design...or maybe it's the other way around. The irony being that one of the sponsors of Reed's flat black #5r is Black Swamp Graphics. At least Stanbrough's car is kinda shiny...Stanbrough also had interference from mother nature this weekend as only 1 of 3 scheduled USAC National Sprint Car series events avoided the wet stuff. Shane Cottle took Friday's feature at Gas City I-69 Speedway over a stout 46 car field before Saturday night at Gas City and Sunday at Winchester were washed out.

On Friday night at Attica, it was new Fremont co-promoter Mike Linder taking the feature win ahead of Outlaw invader Daryn Pittman, 2006 Canadian Sprint Car Nationals 5th place finisher Dale Blaney, '07 All Star champ Greg Wilson, and the aforementioned Reed. Other drivers of note to Ontario fans on hand at Attica on Friday were another Outlaw invader in Sam Hafertepe Jr. who led 13 laps at Ohsweken last July, Dustin Daggett who is familiar to any seasoned sprint car fan around here, Mike Dussel who ran 6th in the '06 CSCN, Caleb Griffith, pilot of a 2nd Styres car in the '06 CSCN, Phil Gressman who once replaced Ryan Coniam behind the wheel of the Grove #70 before suffering the same fate as Ryan, and (former?) AVSS competitor Brian Lay.

Limaland also got their season underway Friday night, with Darren Long taking feature honours in the 360 sprint division. Darren showed up at Ohsweken for the Nationals a couple of times but never seemed to make it through tech. His Yoder's #7, which graced victory lane at South Buxton in 2002, is missed in these parts. Tilbury's Kyle Patrick was not a Tornado at Lima, finishing 7th in the B-main while occasional visitors to Ontario JR Stewart, Tim Allison, Cory Seeling, Luke Hall, and Ron Blair were also in attendance at Lima. Blair's #35 took a ride out of the ballpark in turn 4 at Ohsweken in 2006. Thankfully the new catchfence which was put in just before last season's World of Outlaws show should prevent future excursions like that.

A short clip at the end of Wind Tunnel tonight showing old ESPN USAC Thunder footage from IRP in 1991 got me thinking...In a day and age when the quality of tv coverage of all kinds of things is improving, why is short track racing going the opposite way? This year a sprint car race other than the Knoxville Nationals is going to be shown live on Speed Channel, but it has taken nearly 10 years to get back to it, which TNN was doing regularly before their demise.

Officially, the Champ Car World Series is now extinct. The last event ever for the series was held at Long Beach today. Maybe now we can start using the term "Champ Car" in the proper context. There wasn't anything remotely Champ Car-ish in the CCWS.

I was considering going to Merrittville for the 358 Super DIRT series event next weekend, but real life is getting in the way. Instead, I'll open my season in May on the shores of Lake Ontario, where Patriots will invade Fulton and wings will fly around Oswego. Let's hope it's as warm then as it was here over the past few days - this was racing weather if there ever was some.

Some Random Thoughts and Observations...

2008-04-17T14:28:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (Thursday, April 18, 2008) -

...It seems to me that if the local Pennsylvania drivers deserve a nickname like PA Posse, then some other racing hotbeds deserve one too, starting with the locals in Ohio who race at Attica and Fremont every week. Posse driver-turned All Star Lance Dewease found out how tough the locals can be during the All Star Circuit of Champions Attica Sprint Clash on the 5th of April. Dewease ended up in victory lane at the end of the night, but Byron Reed was the driver to beat. From his starting spot in row 3, Reed, who has won 3 consecutive Attica track titles, chased Dewease down midway through the feature and - as Dewease admitted afterwards - would have been the winner had his fuel line held together. Video highlights of the event are available on www.HighVistaVideo.com .

A stellar 42 car field was on hand for the event, including Western PA visitors Ed Lynch Jr. and Bob Felmlee, and former World of Outlaws regular Randy Hannagan, who looks like he might chase All Star points this year. Lee Stark was also on hand, but did not advance from the B-main. Ontario fans will remember Lee as the driver who took one of Warren and Dick Mahoney's sprint cars for a ride over the 2nd turn wall at Ohsweken during a Canadian Sprint Car Nationals event after contact with Nick Mulheim...

...It's worth noting that Paul McMahan finished 7th at Eldora last Friday in the World of Outlaws feature, well ahead of Kraig Kinser, the driver who replaced McMahan behind the wheel of the Tony Stewart Motorsports #20, who ended up 21st after running the B-Main. McMahan's Rick Ferkel-owned #0 assuredly has a much smaller budget and not nearly the amount of resources that the Stewart team has at their disposal. The Saturday portion of the Eldora weekend was rained out...

...USAC announced yesterday that they are launching a new pilot division for sprint cars, moulded in the same fashion as their regional midget series. If successful, the series will be vying for cars along with the HOSS and AVSS series, so hopefully all 3 groups can work together to keep pavement sprint car racing healthy in the Midwest...

...It came to my attention recently that while there is a speedboat racing duo inducted in the London Sports Hall of Fame, Harvey Lennox is not. I think it is high time we do something about that. Visit http://www.londonsportscouncil.org/ to voice your opinion on the matter...

Wall Stadium Closing

2008-03-25T11:12:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (March 25, 2008) -

It has occurred to me lately that I need to get off my duff and go to some of the tracks on my "must see" list. It seems the list is getting a little bit shorter with each passing year as suburbia slowly swallows up areas where racetracks "live". Wall Stadium in New Jersey is the latest casualty, and while it probably got no attention in the New York Times during more than 55 years of racing there, an article appeared in the Times this morning noting the demise of the speedway. To read it, click here: A Speedway's Last Lap on Memory Lane

Speed Channel is Exclusive Broadcaster of WoO in '08...Ohsweken Events to be Included!

2008-03-24T15:41:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (March 24, 2008) -

The World of Outlaws and Speed Channel announced the broadcast schedule last night on Speed's "Wind Tunnel" talk show. The schedule includes 25 hours of coverage from 17 World of Outlaws Sprint Car series and Late Model series events, but the real news for most of the folks who read this blog is that Speed's cameras will be rolling at Ohsweken Speedway in July. Both the Tuesday and Wednesday night events will be taped and broadcast on Speed on the following 2 Saturdays.

To read the official press release and view the entire schedule, click on the following link: BREAKING NEWS: World of Outlaws Racing Exclusively On SPEED in 2008

CPT Show/Race City Closing?/

2008-03-13T14:26:00.001-04:00

London, Ontario (March 13, 2008) -

CPT Racing Experience Hits London This Weekend

The inaugural "CPT Racing Experience" comes to the London Convention Centre this weekend and the local open wheel groups and teams figure to have a strong presence. The Southern Ontario Sprints and Ohsweken Speedway will both have booths at the show, and Mark Sammut, Ryan Litt, John Watson, Daryl Turford, and Adam West are scheduled to be on hand to sign autographs and greet fans at times during the weekend.

Sammut and Litt will both have their cars on display at the show, along with former Southern Ontario Sprints competitor Ken Bayliss, who will have his car on display in the Ohsweken booth. Yours truly will also be there, working in the Ohsweken booth on Sunday, so stop by and say hello! For more info, visit http://www.cptrace.com. Hopefully I'll have some pictures from the show next week...

Race City Closing?

It appears that Race City Motorsport Park in Calgary is one of the casualties of the boomtimes out West, which is sad news for the Canadian short track racing community. What is really concerning is the apparently callous attitude that local officials seem to be showing towards their local motorsports community. In one year, the property assessment of the land the track stands on went from $3 million to $18 million. Click here to read an article about the situation which appeared in the Calgary Sun yesterday: http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/03/12/4978991-sun.html

Rebirth of the All Stars

2008-02-01T17:46:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (February 1, 2008) -

A few years ago, I think it’s fair to say that the All Star Circuit of Champions sprint car series was in trouble. Ownership of the series was in question, and the World of Outlaws/National Sprint Tour split caused 2 of the tour's biggest names and their teams - Chad Kemenah and Jeremy Campbell - to make the jump to the World of Outlaws, where the split created openings for them. 2006 was a tough campaign for the All Stars tour, as only a handful of teams competed full time, some scheduled events were cancelled well after the season was already underway, and rumours of the demise of the series began to surface. The ‘06/’07 offseason, however, brought optimism for “big league” 410 sprint car racing, as the National Sprint Tour halted operations and many of those teams returned to the World of Outlaws. In turn, the 2007 edition of the World of Outlaws tour featured one of the strongest full time driver rosters in series history.

The rejuvenation of the World of Outlaws helped the All Stars, as much stronger competition for rides and sponsors in the WoO forced some drivers to look elsewhere. Some looked to the All Stars - namely Brian Paulus last season, and for this coming season, Paul McMahan. McMahan, having lost his seat at the end of last season in the Tony Stewart Motorsports #20 to Kraig Kinser, has joined forces with legendary Ohio driver-turned car owner Rick Ferkel for a full assault on the All Star tour for 2008.

Having said all that, much of the rebirth of the All Star tour over the past year seems more due to hard work by the ownership and officials of the series than it is the result of the unification of the Outlaws (although that certainly helped). Before last season, a new title sponsor was brought on board (O'Reilly Auto Parts), and the All Stars took over the defunct Mid-American Sprint Series (MASS), renaming it Midwest All Star Series. The new group had a reasonable amount of success in it's first season, competing at tracks in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. A solid schedule was put in place for the All Stars in ’07, and new drivers joined the tour full time, including Fremont Speedway and Attica Raceway Park regular Craig Mintz, and Western Pennsylvania standout Brian Ellenberger (both will be back full time on the tour for ’08).

The big news for the All Stars this season is new, big name additions to the driver roster. Along with McMahan, Central Pennsylvania star Lance Dewease, and longtime Ohio standouts Dale Blaney and Dean Jacobs have all announced plans to run with the tour full time this season.

Another driver to watch is Neil Shepherd, who made his debut in a full size sprint car with the All Stars at Attica, Ohio in April of 2006. Shepherd has progressed quickly and ran very well in some non-wing events in Indiana last season, including some top 10 runs during USAC Indiana Sprint Week. Shepherd is planning on running for the rookie of the year award with the All Stars this season, but don't be surprised if he is also in the hunt for the overall title as well.

These drivers, along with many returning drivers from last year, including Paul May, Brock Mayes Greg Wilson, and Brandon Martin, should combine to create one of the most competitive full time rosters in series history. The additions also make up for the departure of Danny Smith, who was one of the more popular and competitive drivers from last season, finishing just 2 points behind Greg Wilson for the ’07 drivers championship. Smith is moving up to compete with the World of Outlaws full time in 2008.

Yesterday, the All Stars released their full 2008 schedule with 42 confirmed events and 5 more to be announced, and tonight kick off their season at the North Florida Speedway in Lake City, Florida. All the action will be broadcast live (audio) on www.DirtVision.com with new tour announcer Dave “DC Bash” Campbell and his BAS Racing Network.

In Other News…

…The Empire Super Sprints announced this week that Lucas Oil has been signed as title sponsor for the series. The tour will visit Southern Ontario once this season, at the Ohsweken Speedway on June 20^th…

…Ohsweken Speedway has a title sponsor for it’s new weekly 360 sprint car division. CORR/PAK Merchandising, based in Richmond Hill. The company sponsored the “best appearing car” award at last year’s Canadian Sprint Car Nationals…

…An article in the London Free Press this week by Jim Cressman brings good news for London-area race fans: Property owner Nick Spivak and the Delaware Speedway ownership group have signed a new 35 year agreement which will see the property remain a speedway for at least that amount of time. With the new agreement, track management is going ahead with a $2 Million renovation which includes repaving the track surface and replacing the retaining walls. Click here to read the full article: http://www.londonfreepress.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=222552&s=massacre …

…More good news for another “local” short track: Lancaster Speedway in Buffalo, whose owner said repeatedly last summer that the track would close if a buyer could not be found, has been saved. Former owner Ralph Galuzzi is back and has signed over naming rights of the track to Dunn Tire, with the track being renamed Dunn Tire Raceway Park. The number of race nights has been drastically reduced, but it is better than not having a track at all, which was the alternative. To read the Buffalo News article about the Speedway’s new owner and his plans, click here: http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/264869.html ...

...The North American open wheel season unofficially kicked off last night at Tampa’s East Bay Raceway Park with the first of 3 nights of ASCS American Sprint Cars on Tour action. Kenny Adams beat Gary Wright and more than 50 other competitors for last night’s feature win. Quebec's Michael Parent is the lone Canadian on hand at East Bay. Saturday night’s Ronald Laney Memorial King of the 360’s event pays $10,000 to the winner. Live audio of all the action is available on www.HighSpeedRadio.com …

2008 Schedules Taking Shape

2008-01-07T11:11:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (January 7th, 2008) -

It seems that many tracks and racing organizations are getting organized and announcing their schedules - or at least tentative schedules - earlier and earlier each season, and that is definitely the case this season. Open wheel dates in Ontario that have already officially been announced include the special dates at Ohsweken, an ASCS Patriots event at Merrittville, as well the Southern Ontario Sprints schedule, which was released today. There are also tentative dates from the Auto Value Super Sprints, Empire Super Sprints, and the International Supermodified Association already published on their respective websites.

With dates for the bi-weekly sprint car class at Humberstone, the weekly sprint car class at Ohsweken, and the rest of the ASCS schedule from the Patriots and SoD divisions still unannounced, this season is already shaping up to be the busiest season of open wheel racing in Ontario since Supermodifieds last ran weekly at Delaware more than 30 years ago.

Some of the noteable events on the schedule so far include the ISMA Supermodifieds back at Cayuga for the first time since 2005, the World of Outlaws Sprints back at Ohsweken for 2 shows this year, and the Southern Ontario Sprints scheduled at Brockville Ontario Speedway for the first time and back at Humberstone after a year's absence.

ISMA may have set back the practice of releasing tentative schedules before all the contracts are signed, however, as a date at Kawartha was listed earlier this week - which has since been taken down - which would compete directly with the MSA/Oswego winged race on Classic Weekend at Oswego, NY. As it is, the presently listed Sunday date of that weekend says ISMA will be at Cayuga while the traditional Oswego Classic event will also be running. It remains to be seen whether this schedule is the same when the season starts, but in terms of bad PR, some damage has already been done, whether it is fair or not.

To view a list of all the dates that have been confirmed or at least tentatively announced, go to the following link: 2008 Ontario Open Wheel Schedule

November 15, 1992: Atlanta

2007-11-15T17:29:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (November 15, 2007) -

I must say it feels a little bit strange for a Canadian open wheel fan like me to be talking about stock car racers from Wisconsin on two consecutive days, but I feel compelled to mention that today marks the 15th anniversary of one of the most riveting and dramatic races ever run, in any motorsports discipline.

It was the finale of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup season at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. In many years, the final race of the NASCAR season has proven to be rather anticlimactic, despite recent efforts by the NASCAR brass to make it more interesting with their "Chase" playoff format and such. 1992 was no ordinary NASCAR season, however.

Going into the race, 6 drivers had a mathematical shot at the title: Davey Allison was the leader, with Alan Kulwicki 30 points behind, Bill Elliott 40 points behind, and Harry Gant, Kyle Petty, and Mark Martin further back, but still within reach. This was, to that point in time, the closest championship chase ever in NASCAR, and still is to this day if you discount the contrived Chase format now in place, which artificially bunches the field for the last 10 races of the season. Elliott and Allison, two legitimate superstars of the sport - Elliott already a champion, and Allison, son of legendary Bobby, widely regarded as a champion in waiting - were being hyped in the media as the pre-race favourites, but Kulwicki was in the thick of it as well, having fought his way back into contention after being 278 points behind with 6 races left in the season.

The race was also going to be significant for some other reasons too; It was to be Richard Petty's last race. After 35 years, 7 NASCAR titles (at that time a record, which he now shares with the late Dale Earnhardt), and 201 career wins (96 more than any other driver), The King was finally ready to hang 'em up. At the same time, although nobody knew it at the time, NASCAR's next great star was making his debut - Jeff Gordon, after blazing an unprecedented trail through the USAC midget, sprint, and Silver Crown divisions and running well enough, although not spectacularly, in the Busch series for 2 seasons, was noticed by Rick Hendrick and signed on to drive for a brand new team for Hendrick. Both Petty's finale and Gordon's debut were rather ignominious - Gordon crashed after 164 laps and was credited with 31st, and Petty literally went out with a bang, as his car caught fire after being involved in an accident. Those who saw it on tv will remember it well, as Petty was heard yelling "Get the bleepin' fire extinguisher", thanks to ESPN's in-car camera.

The math said that if Davey Allison could finish 5th or better, he could win the championship, no matter what the other contenders did, but his race came to a premature end when he was caught up in somebody else's accident. This left Elliott and Kulwicki to duel for the title. Alan and his crew knew that if they claimed the 5 bonus points for leading the most laps, and finished in 2nd place, Elliott could not win the title, even if he won the race. In the end, everything played out to perfection for Alan and his team, as he got the lead and managed to keep it long enough to guarantee that he would lead the most laps before pitting for fuel. Elliott went on to win the race, with Kulwicki in 2nd. Kulwicki led 103 laps, Elliott led 102. As the owner as well as the driver of his race team, Kulwicki accomplished something few would have thought possible. To this day the only other driver who also owned his own team to have won the title since 1961 is Richard Petty.

Kulwicki was set to defend his title in 1993, but his season did not get off to the best of starts as obligations to sponsors took up much of his time, and then the unthinkable happened - on April 1st, 1993 while Kulwicki and 3 others were about to land at an airstrip near the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, their small jet crashed. There were no survivors. Less than 3 months later, Davey Allison was also killed, in a helicopter crash at Talladega Speedway in Alabama.

Today, Kulwicki's legacy is evident in many facets of NASCAR; many of his employees and crew members went on to have long and very successful careers working for other teams, and his scientific and analytical approach was ahead of its time in the NASCAR world, but is now accepted as the norm. A seat-of-the-pants approach to car setup and hard-nosed tough guy driving tactics had reigned supreme for years, but that was about the change, thanks in part to Alan.

Alan was not cut out of the same mold as most drivers of his day. He was a college educated engineering graduate. He was an individualist, and a perfectionist, and had a reputation for being hard to get along with. It would be easy to look back on things with rose coloured glasses and say he was a genius, but he was not, though that is not to say he wasn't intelligent. He was simply hardworking, determined, and made the most of the limited resources he had available to him.

It's hard to imagine what today's NASCAR would be like if Allison and Kulwicki were still with us. Alan had made his way South from the short tracks of Wisconsin and the ASA series with next to nothing in the mid-80's, and risen to the top of his profession in a very short amount of time. He eschewed most of the conventional wisdom in the NASCAR garage area, and had turned down offers to drive for other very well established, championship-calibre teams owned by legends such as Bud Moore and Junior Johnson. Owner/drivers are even more rare now than they were in Kulwicki's era, and it is debatable whether he could have hung on, or whether he would have eventually joined another team, but many fans believe that if anybody could have done it and been successful, it would have been Alan.

A few weeks ago, during ABC's pre-race broadcast of the Nextel Cup event at Atlanta, a short segment aired about Kulwicki. It can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uERcwUEyLIU

Billionaire Canadiens Owner Gillett Raced on the Short Tracks...Who Knew?

2007-11-14T16:43:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (November 14, 2007) -

It really is true that you learn something new every day. Last night I happened to be watching Prime Time Sports on Rogers Sportsnet and caught a long and very interesting interview with George Gillett, owner of the Montreal Canadiens, Liverpool FC, Gillett-Evernham Motorsports in NASCAR, and the Ashland Oil Corporation and its Valvoline division, among many other things.

PTS is not exactly an auto racing show, and they spent most of the time talking about his other sporting interests, but one short segment was devoted to his involvement in NASCAR, and a couple of things he said really caught my interest. When asked how he got involved in motorsports, he mentioned in passing that he was in fact a former racer, and had sponsored short track cars and even an Indy 500 winner in the past.

So I did a little research and discovered that Gillett once raced at the legendary Slinger Super Speedway in his home state of Wisconsin, and later, after his business interests had taken off, he sponsored Wisconsin driver Larry Detjens, a legendary local driver in the upper Midwest who competed against the likes of Dick Trickle, Alan Kulwicki, and many others who went on to have success in NASCAR. Unfortunately, Detjens - uncle of present day drivers Scott and Chris Wimmer - was fatally injured in a crash in 1980, and there is a trophy and memorial race named after him at a couple of different tracks in Wisconsin.

Gillett's racing interests were not over at that point though, as he later sponsored the 1996 Indy 500 winning entry of Buddy Lazier, and of course now is co-owner of the Gillett-Evernham Motorsports team in NASCAR.

I know most of this is not open wheel related, but I found all this interesting. I guess you never know who you might run into out there at your local track, or where they might end up in the future!

Styres Declared WoO Promoter of the Year

2007-11-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (November 8, 2007) -

The World of Outlaws year-end awards ceremonies were held Monday night in Charlotte, NC, with Glenn Styres of Ohsweken Speedway being named as the promoter of the year. It marks the first time that a first-year promoter of a WoO event has been given this honour. It is Glenn's second promoter of the year award, as he was voted the 2005 North American 360 Sprint Car Promoter of the Year by the National Sprint Car Poll, after the success of the inaugural Canadian Sprint Car Nationals event.

To read the full story, click here: http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint/news/2007/november/110607_sp_awards.aspx

Here is the excerpt from the article regarding Glenn's award:

" The 2007 World of Outlaws Promoter of the Year was Glenn Styres from Ohsweken Speedway in Canada. It marked the first time in World of Outlaws history that a first-time promoter of a series event has been named Promoter of the Year. Prior to the series visit to his track in July, Styres had never had 410-sprint cars compete on the high-banked 3/8-mile, which is situated right behind his house, reminiscent of the baseball field in the film Field of Dreams.

“To host a World of Outlaws event was a dream come true,” said Styres. “Next season we will work hard to make the event even bigger and better.” "

Considering that Ohsweken will have 360 sprints every week next season, and the WoO event will be expanded to 2 days, more awards could very well be in Glenn's and Ohsweken's future...

More Ohsweken News

2007-11-01T09:58:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (November 2, 2007) -

A lot of what was discussed in the meeting Tuesday night was already known, but a few new things did come out...

- A two day event is scheduled for July 4th and 5th featuring a co-sanctioned show with the ASCS Patriot Region vs. the ASCS SoD Region. There will be two complete shows, with Friday night paying $1500 to win and Saturday paying $3000 to win. That weekend is the Independance Day weekend in the US and allows more teams to travel further away from home, so other than the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, the ASCS weekend will surely feature the largest car count of the season at Ohsweken.
Look for the locals to put up a strong effort against the travellers from the ASCS groups, as the Ontario drivers have been close before, and will have had even more track time at Ohsweken than any other year. Glenn Styres was well on his way to a feature win against ASCS SoD in 2006 before having a mechanical problem while Fred Cade finished 2nd, Rick Wilson 5th, and Jamie Collard 6th. In this season's ASCS Patriot Region event at Ohsweken, 4 of the top 10 finishers were Ontario drivers, including Fred Cade in 2nd, Glenn Styres in 3rd, Keith Dempster in 6th, and Kyle Patrick in 10th, and this season's SoD show was looking even better for the locals before the rains came and washed away the feature.

- More improvements are planned for the track property, as the installation of the new Musco lighting system will be completed, and more seating will be added.

- The season opener is tentatively slated for May 16, with the season championship event scheduled for September 5, the week before the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals. There will be a bit of a break for the sprints mid-summer, as they are not scheduled to compete on July 25, August 1, and August 8. These dates follow the Tuesday/Wednesday World of Outlaws Sprints doubleheader, and also coincide with the 360 Nationals and Brodix Tournament events at Knoxville in early August, allowing teams from around here to compete in those events, if they choose. The track will still be open for their regular Friday night shows on those off weeks, as the Lucas Oil Sportsman and 358 Modified Shootout events will take the place of the sprints on the card for 2 of those weeks. In all likelihood, the Art Hill Memorial mini-stock race will take centre stage on the other off weekend.

- In all, we are looking at 17 360 shows, and 2 410 shows at Ohsweken next year. It is not known when the ESS and SOS shows will be, but those two plus the two ASCS shows, the 2 Outlaw shows, and the 2 Canadian Sprint Car Nationals evnets will pay show-up points only towards the Ohsweken track championship. This leaves 11 regular nights of racing for full points towards the track championship. All regular features are 20 laps, starting 20 cars. The mid-season championship event and end of season championship event will be 25 laps and start 24 cars.

- One more big event at Ohsweken is in the planning stages, but is not finalized. Suffice to say if it happens, it has the potential to be one of the most entertaining dirt track shows in Canada next season.

Ohsweken Rules Meeting Tomorrow

2007-10-29T09:45:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (October 29, 2007) -

We are quickly learning a lot more about what's going to happen at Ohsweken next season. Shortly after the announcement of the shift to a weekly sprint division, a draft copy of the rules and purse structure was posted on Ohsweken's website. To read it, just go to www.OhswekenSpeedway.com .

It appears that track owner Glenn Styres and general manager Ken Pelkie have hit a home run with this package, at least from a racing standpoint - at $1500 to win and $250 to start, the purse is very good, and in fact will be one of the better payouts for a "regular" 360 sprint car event at any track in the Northeast. It remains to be seen if the fans will respond with the same enthusiasm as the racers surely will. The on-track product has always been good at Ohsweken, but promotion of the track has always been lacking as well.

Tomorrow night (October 30) there will be an information meeting in Brantford, after which the rules package, purse structure, point fund, and procedural rules will be finalized. A tentative schedule will also be presented, but will be firmed up at a later date.

The news of the move to sprints has spurred a lot of local racers into action and has them considering a jump to sprint cars from other divisions such as modifieds for next season, and the rumours are flying. Some American teams have also expressed interest in running at Ohsweken each week, despite the extra travel.

I suspect I'll be back with more on this later in the week...

Tommy

Weekly Sprints @ Ohsweken in '08

2007-10-19T15:45:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (October 19, 2007) -

I know it has been way too long since I last wrote in this space, and in the next month or two I intend to correct that problem. Thanks to those of you who sent e-mails asking where I've been all summer. It seems that "silly season" starts earlier and earlier each season, which I suppose is directly proportional to the amount of growth we have seen in open wheel racing here in Ontario in the last 5 years or so. I will try to address some of the news that has already come out in the next little while, but for now, here is the biggest thing that has come out so far:

Weekly Sprints @ Ohsweken in '08

It has never been much of a secret that Glenn Styres wants Ohsweken Speedway to be the sprint car capital of Canada. Last week he took another large step towards bringing his track to that level by announcing that Ohsweken will be dropping the Sportsman modified division and the DIRT sanction that went with it, and replacing it with a weekly 360 sprint car division. Lots of dominoes are going to fall because of this, and it will be interesting to see what the sprint car landscape in Ontario looks like when May rolls around. I am sure there will be no shortage of things for me to write about in this space in the next few months. For now, you can go here to read the press release from Ohsweken: http://ohswekenspeedway.com/news/101507.htm

I'll be back with more sometime soon, but for now that's something to discuss around the water cooler anyway. As usual, if you want to contact me, send an e-mail my way at tommygoudge@hotmail.com.

Tommy

Entry for May 11, 2006 - Dixie Motor Speedway

2007-05-12T16:06:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (May 12, 2007) -

Last night we decided to visit a place that has become a staple on our schedule each season - the Dixie Motor Speedway located just outside of Birch Run, Michigan was the place, and the attraction was the Midwest Supermodified Association (MSA). The MSA is based out of the Sandusky area in Ohio and does not venture far from home very often. This fact, coupled with some mishaps in last week's MSA opener at the Sandusky Speedway, conspired to reduce the car count to a somewhat disappointing 15.

Despite the short field, it was still a pretty good night, and it was also a good opportunity to see some drivers and cars which I don't normally get to see, since some of the MSA teams and drivers, for one reason or another, generally refrain from competing in ISMA events, ISMA being a group I see 2-3 times each season.

It was a fairly ordinary evening at the races. Dave Shullick, Jr. was the class of the field, setting a new track record in time trials, cruising home to a 2nd place finish in his heat, and, after starting deep in the pack, taking the lead in the feature before halfway. Jon Henes, who didn't get any practice time due to problems with his hauler en route to the track, made a valiant effort to keep "Shoe 2" behind him, but in the end he just didn't have the right setup in the car and drifted high coming out of turn 2 shortly before the halfway mark of the race, allowing Shullick's #49 to dart past on the bottom.

Following Shullick and Henes to the checkered flag were Shullick's Acme Racing teammate Moe Lilje in 3rd, rookie Kyle Edwards in 4th, and Ryan Klingelhoffer, who drove one of the May Motorsports cars home in 5th. Edwards, despite being new to the Supermodified ranks this season, looked very comfortable and racy. He could be one to watch for in the future.

Next weekend is Victoria Day weekend here in Canada, and there will be lots of options for race fans. On Friday, I'll be visiting Ohsweken Speedway for their opening day featuring the Southern Ontario Sprints. The opening SOS show each year is usually a good one, and usually features one of the better car counts of the season. Last year's opener at Ohsweken was rained out, but the next scheduled event in early June saw a record field of 43 entrants in the pits. That kind of a car count is not out of the question this time around, as the ASCS Sprints on Dirt, NRA Sprint Invaders, and Empire Super Sprints all have the weekend off. The ASCS Patriots will be in action at the Black Rock Speedway in New York, competing in the New York Sprint Nationals against the ASCS National Tour.

This season has the potential to be the most competitive in SOS history, as almost all of last season's teams and drivers will be returning, all with another year's experience under their belts, and some with upgraded equipment and/or a new team. Keith Dempster is one driver to keep an eye on as he has joined the Styres Racing team as a teammate to team owner and Ohsweken track owner Glenn Styres.

Another driver to keep an eye on is Kevin Job. With another new sponsor, great equipment, and a full year of sprint car racing under his belt, as well as a trip to Florida to race against the best 360 sprint cars in North America in February, Job should be a threat for the win each and every night.

Humberstone Speedway hosted the first 360 sprint car action of the season here in Ontario last Sunday night, with Rob Pietz taking the win over Job, Mike Stelter, Tom Huppunen, and Jim Porter. A decent field of 17 cars attended the first event.

After the SOS event, I may also head to Flamboro Speedway on Sunday for the OSCAAR Super Late Models and/or Merrittville Speedway on Monday night for their first "Monday night Madness" show of the season. This year's edition of the event features the BRP 360 Late Model tour and IMCA Modifieds, as well as Merrittville's regular 358 and Sportsman Modified divisions. I know some of you out there reading this might be wondering, "What gives? That stuff isn't open wheel!", but variety is fun once in awhile, Merrittville is a fun track, and with 4 good divisions on the card, it will be worth the price of admission, plus I like going to races on weeknights!

As always you can find me at tommygoudge@hotmail.com. This week's strange

See you at the races!

World of Outlaws on Speed Channel this weekend

2007-05-11T12:33:00.000-04:00

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car series will make a long awaited return to a tv network people actually watch this weekend. The airtime is 2:00 pm Eastern time, Sunday May 13 on Speed Channel (channels 81 and 409 for those on Rogers Digital in the London area). The race was taped a few weeks ago at the Eldora Speedway in Ohio.

Tommy

Scott Seaton Celebration of Life Service

2007-05-10T12:22:00.000-04:00

Please visit www.TJSlideways.com for information on the memorial service for Scott Seaton, which will take place this coming Saturday, May 12th.

The Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints series has a scheduled event tomorrow night (Friday May 11) at the M-40 Speedway in Jones, Michigan. There will be a memorial service at the track at that time to honour Scott Seaton, as well as veteran late model driver Stan Perry who tragically suffered a heart attack and passed away while competing in the feature race at Spartan Speedway in Mason, Michigan last Friday night.

The Michigan racing community has suffered two great tragedys and this weekend will surely be difficult and filled with emotion for those competing, officiating, or spectating at tracks in the state, but as they say, the show must go on. Hopefully it will be a weekend of good racing and most importantly, safe racing.

Tommy

Remembering Scott Seaton...

2007-05-07T17:49:00.000-04:00

www.TJSlideways.com has posted a short tribute to Scott. Click HERE to read it.

Tommy

Mourning the loss of Scott Seaton

2007-05-06T22:27:00.000-04:00

It is with terrible sadness that I must report veteran driver Scott Seaton was fatally injured at Auto City Speedway last night. I will not and do not want to explain in any detail what happened, suffice to say it was the worst crash I have seen in the 20+ years I have been attending races. People like Scott are the backbone of short track racing, and the ones who keep it going year after year. His passing is a tragic loss. He will not be forgotten.

Entry for April 20, 2007 - Attica Raceway Park

2007-04-21T15:38:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (April 21, 2007) -

Friday night marked my first race track trip of 2007, and 55 World of Outlaws Sprint Cars in the pits at Attica, Ohio on a sunny day was a pretty good way to start it off. This was my second time visiting Attica Raceway Park, and the track is quickly becoming a favourite destination for me. During the off season, Attica's crew was hard at work installing a new lighting system and a new front stretch catch-fence, as well as a new grandstand in the pit area.

Outside of Central Pennsylvania and Knoxville, Iowa, Attica is definitely one of the better weekly sprint car tracks out there, and the competition amongst the weekly racers is very good. For some reason when big travelling groups come to town in many areas, the local drivers seem to shoot themselves in the foot, for one reason or another. This event was no exception. In time trials, Greg Wilson, Dale Blaney, Butch Schroeder, Mark Keegan, Byron Reed, and Ed Neumeister were all in the top 20, but only Wilson, Schroeder, and Reed were actually able to turn that effort into a transfer spot in their heat races. Schroeder, the all time Attica track record holder, in fact won the third heat on this night, while Wilson took home the winner's honours in the first heat. Other locals that perhaps could have done better include Rob Chaney, who hit the wall when he attempted to pull a daring slide-job while battling for a transfer spot in his heat, Mike Linder, who never took a competitive lap around the speedway due to engine problems, as well as Lee and Dean Jacobs. Dean's night ended in the C-Main, while Lee didn't make it out of the B-Main.

Track conditions were less than ideal, perhaps in part due to the 5-10 mph winds that served to dry the track surface quite quickly, but one of the great things about a World of Outlaws show is that these drivers and teams are so good that they can put on a good show on almost any surface. Even in the feature on a track that was pretty used up, Joey Saldana, Craig Dollansky, Steve Kinser, and sometimes others, staged an entertaining battle at the front of the pack, with Saldana eventually taking the lead with a spectacular 3 wide move between Dollansky and Kinser coming out of turn 4 on the 27th lap. Saldana essentially cruised to the victory from there, although the snarling pack was never far away, waiting to pounce if Saldana had troubles in lapped traffic.

When the checkered flag flew, Saldana was followed to the line by Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz, Jason Meyers, Craig Dollansky, Paul McMahan, Greg Wilson, Tim Shaffer, Daryn Pittman, and Jason Solwold. Shaffer and Pittman quietly marched their way to the top 10 after starting 19th and 22nd, repectively, but I don't think anybody noticed as the racing in the top 5 was capturing everyone's attention.

You can view hilight clips of the weekend's action both at Attica, and the Fremont Speedway opener at www.highvistavideo.com

No racing trips for me this weekend...Still considering going to see the Auto Value Super Sprints opener at Auto City Speedway on May 5. The Auto City events are not quite as fun as they used to be, since the track managers discovered they can draw the same crowd without running their weekly late model or modified divisions, so only the various street stock divisions accompany the sprints when they run there now. Last time I visited Auto City, Brian Lay beat Tommy Fedewa to the checkered flag by only a few inches, in what was one of the better finishes of season. Questions and comments and the rest can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com as usual.

See you at the races!

Mother Nature Strikes Again/USAC-CRA Ties Record/Timmy J Comeback/Canucks in ISMA/Video

2007-04-18T21:07:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (April 18, 2007) -

Mother Nature Strikes Again

Once again Mother Nature decided to keep a lot of race cars at home last weekend. Among the casualties were the two USAC National sprint car series events scheduled for Twin Cities and Anderson, half the World of Outlaws weekend at Eldora, Lincoln Speedway's sprint car feature. A few Friday events did manage to run, including the Williams Grove Speedway, where Kevin Nouse won his very first 410 sprint car feature after he retook the lead from Lucas Wolfe in traffic on the last corner of the last lap. Eldora's Friday night World of Outlaws sprint series show ran as scheduled, with the new track surface throwing a wrench into the mix. Jason Meyers took home the feature win honours, but that news seems to have taken a back seat to the negative reaction from fans and others involved with racing to the new surface, which didn't exactly make for the usual high grooved racing we're used to seeing at Eldora. Track owner Tony Stewart issued a statement this week regarding the issues, saying the track crew will keep on working until they get it right.

USAC/CRA ties Record

It took some luck, and some abnormal circumstances, but Danny Sheridan ended up in victory lane at Perris Auto Speedway in Southern California on Saturday night. Sheridan became the 11th different winner in 11 races contested so far for the series this season, which ties an all time USAC record. In 52 years of USAC competition, the only other USAC-sanctioned series to accomplish the feat is a now defunct modified series, which set the record in 1994. The USAC National Midgets had 10 different winners in the first 10 races on 3 occasions - 1956, 1960, and 1977 - but never reached 11.

Timmy J Comeback

3 time Midwest Supermodified Association champion Tim Jedrzejek, better known as Timmy J to most, will be making a comeback to racing this season. The Ohio driver sustained serious injuries in a crash at Sandusky a couple of years ago and had been taking some time off from driving, serving as head of MSA last season. This year Tim will make just a handful of appearances in the Reed Salvage #8, by competing in the MSA-Oswego challenge races, as well as the Hy-Miler Classic.

Canucks in ISMA

This year's International SuperModified Association roster features a good amount of Canadian content as always. This year 4 Canadian drivers are signed up to run the entire schedule. Returning are Dave McKnight from Brampton, Ontario and Mike Lichty from Innerkip, Ontario driving for the PatCo team, Mark Sammut from London, Ontario, and newcomer Craig Rayvals from Brockville, Ontario, who is a longtime competitor in Oswego Speedway's supermodified division and is known for having immaculately prepared cars.

Video Highlights

This week www.HighVistaVideo.com has highlights from the ASCS Sooner Region show at Cowtown Speedway in Texas...I think I need a Cowtown t-shirt.

www.PAPosseRacing.com

www.RacewayVideo.com has the USAC/CRA highlights from Perris.

I'm headed to Attica Raceway Park Friday night for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. Last year's show at Attica was rained out, so some of the locals will be chomping at the bit to defend their home turf against the out-of-towners. In some ways, I'm not sure the Attica/Fremont local 410 drivers get all the respect they deserve - definitely not the way the PA Posse drivers do. There are a variety of reasons for this...for one thing, many of the local Ohio drivers don't race at Eldora, for one reason or another - in 2006 Attica champion Byron Reed's case, it's because he was injured badly at Eldora and his family prefers that he stay at "safer" venues. The local drivers from the Attica/Fremont area showed their strength last year when the National Sprint Tour raced at Fremont in June last year though, when 8 of the top 10 in time trials and 7 of the top 10 in the feature were local drivers.

You can contact me as usual at tommygoudge@hotmail.com
See you at the races!

Snowed Out/Rahmer ties Black Bandit/CRA 10 for 10/PRA Opener/Season Kicks Into High Gear/Video/Trivia

2007-04-09T09:35:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (April 9, 2007) -

Snowed Out

Rain, Snow, or some combination of the two, coupled with cold temperatures, conspired to cancel scheduled events at quite a few short tracks this weekend - 31 open wheel events according to www.TJSlideways.com. Among the notables, Attica Raceway Park's 2 day Spring Nationals featuring the All Star Circuit of Champions, I-55 Raceway's World of Outlaws event on Saturday night, the USAC National Midget car series event at Thunderhill Raceway in Texas, and Eldora Speedway's rescheduled opener. The World of Outlaws did get one show in this weekend - more on that later.

Eldora in fact cancelled the weekend's races, but attempted to have an open practice session, which was also cancelled when the track surface froze. Eldora's crew brought in many truckloads of new clay over the winter and have been working to redo the track surface. They were hoping to have cars on it to test it out before now, but it looks like the World of Outlaws sprint car drivers will be the guinea pigs now, as they have a 2 day event scheduled this weekend. Things could be a little bit treacherous for the lightning fast winged sprint cars which hold the Eldora track record, set by Craig Dollansky at a breathtaking 12.70 seconds on the high banked 1/2 mile. The Eldora event is also the first of the scheduled World of Outlaws broadcasts set for Speed Channel starting next month.

Fast Freddie Ties the Black Bandit

Amazingly, Lincoln Speedway in Central Pennsylvania went ahead with their show this weekend, despite everything else in the Northeast being cancelled due to weather. In a way, it doesn't surprise me, since I endured the absolute coldest day I have ever spent at a racetrack last St. Patrick's Day at Lincoln - it snowed! - and the regular sprint car season in Central PA starts in late February each year.

A poll on www.TJSlideways.com awhile ago asked fans which month they thought Fred Rahmer would break Steve Smith's all-time record of 150 feature wins at Lincoln Speedway. 64% answered April, and another 25% answer August. At this point, it looks like the odds are pointing to April, as Fast Freddie joined the Black Bandit atop the list by winning on Saturday night at Lincoln.

As usual, Rahmer started 12th due to the handicapping format that prevails in Central PA, but he picked his way methodically through the field, missed a large crash which took out several other front runners, and passed Niki Young for the lead on the 16th lap. From there he pulled out to a lead of more than 3.5 seconds by the time the checkered flag flew. Rahmer was humble in victory lane, saying "I know how much ability I have, and it's nothing near what Mr. Smith, Bobby Allen and all those other guys that have raced here". I think those of us who have watched him for the past 20 years or so would beg to differ, but we'll take his word for it. Rahmer will try for win #151 this Saturday night.

USAC/CRA Series Goes 10 for 10

"Stomp and Steer" Scotty Weir took feature win honours on Saturday at the USA Race Park in Tuscon, Arizona, making it an amazing 10 different winners in 10 USAC/CRA events held so far this season. They'll try to make it 11 for 11 when the series returns to its home track, the Perris Auto Speedway in Southern California this Saturday night.

PRA Opener

The Premier Racing Association held the opener for their Big Car series this weekend at the South Georgia Motorsports Park, with Parma, Michigan's Brian Tyler taking the win. A somewhat disappointing field was on hand for the event, with only 16 of the "old" generation Silver Crown machines taking the green flag. Included in the field were Innerkip, Ontario's Mike Lichty, a regular competitor on the ISMA Supermodified circuit, Montrose, New York's Justin Barger, an Empire Super Sprints regular whom Southern Ontario fans know from his visits to Ohsweken Speedway, and NASCAR Nextel Cup star Ryan Newman. Lichty was involved in an incident and did not finish, with Barger listed behind him in the finishing order, while Newman finished 5th.

Season Kicks Into High Gear This Weekend

Weekly racing really gets going in earnest this week and next, with many tracks holding their season opening events. In Indiana, Gas City, Bloomington, and Lawrenceburg all feature their weekly wingless sprint car divisions opening up this weekend, while Lincoln Park is holding a preseason stock cars and modifieds show before the sprints come in next week. Also in the Hoosier State, the USAC National Sprint Car series will try for a second time to start its season after getting snowed out at Eldora two weeks ago. A Saturday night show on the dirt at Twin-Cities, and a Sunday afternoon show on the pavement at Anderson are on tap for the series.

The National Sprints have the potential to be very entertaining this season, as quite a few drivers are signed up to run the full schedule, including the pavement races. Some of the newer drivers competing on the tour full time include; Kevin Swindell and Brady Bacon, both driving for NASCAR star Kasey Kahne, Brady Short driving the 2B for Scott Benic, Dustin Morgan in one of the Walker/Guiducci cars with Daren Hagen as a teammate, "The Demon" Damion Gardner driving for NASCAR driver Jason Leffler, "The Rocket" Jesse Hockett, who is moving over to the wingless side full time after running mainly (and very successfully) in the various ASCS winged 360 divisions in the past couple of season, young Chris Windom, last year's USAC Kenyon Midget division champion, and transplanted California youngsters Chad Boespflug and Robert Ballou. Ballou, who is just 17 years of age, set the track record for wingless sprints at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in USAC/CRA compeititon last month.

Another driver who will likely be following a majority of the USAC schedule, at least on dirt, is Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. driving for the legendary Cactus Jack Yeley, father of NASCAR star JJ Yeley.

Windom, just 16 years of age, has a busy weekend planned as he will be testing at the legendary Winchester Speedway on Thursday, before running Gas City's opener on Friday, and the USAC races on Saturday and Sunday. He likely won't be the only one who races on all 3 days this weekend...

Of special interest to Canadian fans, the Anderson show will be the first race of the season for Lyons, Ontario driver Ryan Litt, who is following the entire pavement portion of the USAC National Sprint schedule this season.

Also on the entry list for the Anderson race are 7 time Little 500 champ Eric Gordon, 2005 AVSS champ Cameron Dodson, Bobby Santos III back in an open wheel car, perennial front runners Aaron Pierce, Bobby East, Tom Hessert III, and pavement ace Dave Steele. The 100 lap Glen Neibel Classic for the USAC sprinters will be accompanied by the season opener for the expanded USAC Kenyon Midget division, which has 30 events on the schedule this season.

Elsewhere...

In Eastern Ohio/Western PA, Wayne County hopes the 3rd time is the charm as they attempt to open their season yet again this weekend. Wayne County has added 410 sprint cars as a weekly division this season and it will be interesting to see who shows up to race in that division. Other tracks in the area which are either opening this weekend, or running their 2nd or 3rd show include Lerverville and Mercer.

In other parts of Ohio, Attica's 410 sprint car division has the week off in preparation for the World of Outlaws visit on April 20 but the 305 sprints will be on hand, Eldora has the World of Outlaws on Friday and Saturday, and Limaland has the NRA 360 Invaders for their season opener on Friday. Look for at least a couple of Southern Ontario and Michigan drivers to head down to Lima for some track time before the season begins here "up North" early next month.

Video Highlights

This week www.HighVistaVideo.com visited the Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky for the World of Outlaws Sprint series event, www.RacewayVideo.com was in Tuscon for the USAC/CRA event, and www.PAPosseRacing.com has highlights and a victory lane interview from Central PA's Lincoln Speedway.

Paducah was purchased by NASCAR drivers Ken Schrader, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. along with midwest promoter Bob Sargent late in 2005. This offseason, Schrader and Sargent, along with NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace and Tony Stewart purchased the Macon Speedway in Illinois.
Click HERE to view a heat race clip from Paducah. Ohio's Chad Kemenah parlayed a last lap pass for the last transfer spot in this heat race into a 3rd place finish in the feature on Friday night, his best finish of the season so far. Kemenah is driving a family-owned #3x car after parting ways with the Pete Grove team early this season, after just a handful of races in that ride. Chad's father Harold used to own a #3x car which was driven with a fair amount of success by drivers such as Fred Rahmer and Johnny Beaber on the All Star circuit some years ago.

Click HERE to view features highlights from Tuscon.

Click HERE for highlights from Lincoln and HERE for Fred Rahmer's victory lane interview.

Trivial Pursuit

Just a little tidbit to finish up this week...Regan Smith, who is splitting time in the #01 Ginn Motorsports car with Mark Martin on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit this season, is listed as being from Cato, New York, a small village about 20 miles South of the Oswego well known to most fans of the Oswego Speedway. Smith never raced at Oswego though, as he competed in go-karts before his family moved to NASCAR-land (aka North Carolina) when he was 12.

That's all for this week...questions, comments, and everything else can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

Sprint Cars on TV in '07/Jennerstown Closing?/Video Hilights from PA and Cali/Attica Opener; Spring Nationals

2007-04-04T00:37:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (April 4, 2007)

Sprint Cars on TV in '07

I'm sitting here in my orange Indiana SprintWeek t-shirt (they didn't have any black ones left at Putnamville last year) and thinking it's about time I got to a racetrack...by this time last year, I had already seen 3 races at 3 different tracks down in the Keystone state. But, alas, this year is not last year, and I'm stuck at home for another couple of weeks...Even if Mother Nature had not intervened with most of the shows I might have considered going to so far, my budget is also keeping me away too, so perhaps the weather concerns have actually been of some help...

On the bright side, we'll all be able to watch sprint cars on tv this year. The World of Outlaws are back on a real tv network - two of them actually - for the first time since 2003. They've hired a production company to tape 20 World of Outlaws Sprint Car events and 6 World of Outlaws Late Model events this season, to be broadcast on Speed Channel and ESPN2. Read the press release HERE and check out the full schedule HERE.

It's really a great schedule, with all races being shown on the same day, with a broadcast each and every Sunday from May 13 to November 4, and features a wide variety of tracks and regions...the only problem is that for those of us who live in Canada, the ESPN2 broadcasts are only available to those of us with *ahem* "grey market" satellite dishes. This still leaves 18 broadcasts between the two divisions that we can watch legally (as long as you ponied up the extra dough since Speed Channel is now on the digital side of Rogers cable as of January), but the entire month of July is basically gone, unfortunately, as ESPN2 will be covering the "Month of Money".

The broadcasts do not cover the Canadian WoO dates at Ohsweken or Edmonton unfortunately, but there will be two broadcasts from Skagit Speedway in Washington State, where many talented Canadian drivers race each and every week, including young Travis Rutz from Langley, BC, who will no doubt be looking to make a name for himself with some national tv exposure when the Outlaws come to town.

All of the sprint car broadcasts will feature 2 voices well known to any serious sprint car fan - Bobby Gerould and Brad Doty. Gerould, son of well known racing commentator Gary, was a pit reporter on the old TNN WoO broadcasts, and has many other sprint car media accomplishments to his credit, including his great west coast-centric website, www.HammerDownUSA.com. Doty of course really needs no introduction. After a devastating crash at Eldora which confined him to a wheelchair, Doty turned his attention to being the "colour commentator" on almost every winged sprint car racing broadcast for the last 15 years or so.

The first broadcast will be the April 14th event from Eldora, and will be shown at 2pm on May 13.

Jennerstown Closing?

One of the oldest short track racing facilities in the US appears to be living on borrowed time these days, unfortunately. Racing has taken place at Jennerstown Speedway, about an hour East of Pittsburgh, since the late 1920's, but a less than ideal location and the rising costs of short track racing are taking a toll on the historic venue. Their website says the season is a go, but rumours persist that the green flag may not fly this year. Times change and the location is not ideal, but it would be a great loss if Jennerstown did indeed close...Hopefully the rumours do not amount to anything.

Video Hilights

www.RacewayVideo.com, www.HighVistaVideo.com, and www.PAPosseRacing.com are essential stops each week for sprint car fans. This week Raceway Video has highlights from the USAC/CRA event at King's Speedway in Hanford, California, High Vista's got highlights from the Attica Raceway Park opener in Attica, Ohio, and PAPosseRacing has highlights from Williams Grove and Port Royal in Central PA.

Cory Kruseman took the USAC/CRA honours this week, making it 9 different winners in 9 events for the series so far this season...It's anybody's guess as to who will win this Saturday when the tour rolls into USA Race Park in Tuscon, Arizona, especially when you consider that such front runners as Rip Williams, Rickie Gaunt, Danny Sheridan, and Scotty Weir have yet to take feature win honours this season.

Attica Opener goes to Wilson; Coors Light Spring Nationals postponed due to Winter

At just under 250 miles, Attica is the second-closest weekly 410 sprint car track to my home base here in London...Only Attica's sister track, Fremont Speedway (located on the Sandusky County Fairgrounds), is closer, so I tend to keep close tabs on what is going on at the two tracks. In fact, it if weren't for that pesky Lake Erie getting in the way, both tracks would actually be quite a bit closer and I'd probably go to both of them quite often. As it is I only have a handful of trips planned for the area, unfortunately.

An exciting opening night at Attica ended with Greg Wilson taking feature win honours in the 410 sprint car division, the highlights of which can be seen by going to High Vista Video, listed above. 25 410 Sprints, 40 305 Sprints, and 24 Attica Late Models were in the pits for the first show of the year. It should have served as a great tuneup for this weekend's Coors Light Spring Nationals featuring the All Star Circuit of Champions, however Mother Nature had other ideas, giving the Great Lakes region one last blast of winter this week, forcing track and series officials to postpone this weekend's big show.

The April 6 portion of the program will be run on Friday, May 25, while the April 7 portion will be run Friday, May 4th. The 410's will now be off for 2 weekends in a row, but will return on Friday, April 20th when the World of Outlaws Sprint series comes to town. If everything goes according to plan, this will be my first racing trip of 2007...Hopefully the weather warms up by then!

That's all for this week. Questions, comments, and all the rest can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmai.com as usual.

Early Season Incidents in PA and beyond/Cayuga Speedway Recapturing Former Glory?/Schmelze Wins Heat in OKC/Santos is Fast With Fenders On, Too

2007-03-28T12:28:00.000-04:00

London Ontario (March 28, 2007) -

Early Season Incidents Taking a Toll

Racing season is still over a month away here in Ontario, but it has already begun in earnest in various locales South of the border, including Pennsylvania, where they are crazy and race even when the temperature is close to freezing and it is more likely to snow than rain...

This past Sunday, two Pennsylvania speedways finally got some shows in, after Mother Nature claimed most of the first month of their schedules. Lincoln Speedway finally got their second show of the season in, and Williams Grove ran their long-awaited opener, but neither were without incident.

The start of every racing season always seems to produce more than a few large crashes for some reason, and unfortunately, an injury or two. Last year on St. Patrick's Day at Pennsylvania's Selinsgrove Speedway, Mark Smith was involved in an incident that launched him over the first turn wall and landed him in the hospital with a broken collarbone.

This weekend at Lincoln, Greg Hodnett was involved in a flip and ended up with a broken scapula, and at Williams Grove, Lucas Wolfe was involved in a terrifying incident when he hit the frontstretch pit wall and completely destroyed his #5w after tangling with legendary PA Posse driver Fred Rahmer. Amazingly, Wolfe walked away from the accident in one piece, perhaps due in no small part to the HANS device he wears (HANS devices are not mandatory at the Grove). Rahmer was penalized for his part in the incident, has been stripped of all points earned at The Grove on Sunday, and must start last in the feature next weekend.

It was an up-and down day for "Fast Freddie", as he claimed his 149th Lincoln Speedway feature win earlier in the afternoon, moving him to within just 1 win of "Black Bandit" Steve Smith on the all time Lincoln Speedway feature win list.

On Sunday evening, it was Mike Erdley taking his first ever Williams Grove Speedway feature win after quite a few years of trying. Erdley has won at many other speedways and is the defending Port Royal Speedway track champion in fact, but a win at The Grove had always eluded him until now.

Aside from the previously mentioned incidents, was also a large multi-car pileup at the start of the feature at Williams Grove on Sunday. You can view video of some of the incidents and other hilights from the weekend in PA HERE. (www.PAPosseRacing.com)

The West coast was not free of the early-season carnage this weekend either. The start of the USAC/CRA Sprint Car feature at the Perris Auto Speedway was marred by a 17 car pileup on the front stretch when Row 1 starters Rodney Argo and Cory Kruseman tangled coming to the green flag. 7 of the cars involved were unable to restart.

Q: How competitive is the USAC/CRA series?
A: Phoenix, AZ driver R.J. Johnson took home his first ever USAC/CRA win on Saturday night, making it 8 different feature winners in the first 8 events of the USAC/CRA schedule!
View video hilights of the Perris event HERE. (www.racewayvideo.com)

Cayuga Speedway Recapturing Former Glory?

The new owners of Cayuga Speedway, now renamed Cayuga Raceway Park, appear to be at least making an effort to return some of the old lustre to the track once known as the Crown Jewel of oval racing in Canada, though it appears their plans to expand the track and renovate the grandstand areas have been put on hold for the time being. This year's schedule features a blast from the past, with the ASA Late Models slated to be there on June 30, along with the OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Models Don Biederman Memorial 75. ASA races at Cayuga used to be some of the most well attended short track races of the year before the track fell on hard times in the early 90's.

Schmelzle Wins Heat in Oklahoma City

Chris Schmelzle has thrown his hat into the ring for the American Sprint Car Series National Tour rookie of the year award this year, but it has been a struggle for the Victoria, BC driver. There was a bright spot this past weekend though, as Schmelzle won his heat race during the second night of the State Fair Speedway Spring Nationals in Oklahoma City, OK.

The first Canadian driver to compete regularly with the tour, Schmelzle also campaigns what is quite possibly the only sprint car chassis designed and built in Canada, from Lejeune Performance, based in Victoria. Schmelzle in fact works as a fabricator at Lejeune, which makes him one of only a handful of drivers left in sprint car racing who can actually claim that he builds his own chassis too. Schmelzle has made the choice to concentrate on 360 sprints on dirt after competing in all kinds of different divisions over the past few years, including winged and non-winged pavement sprint cars, dirt sprint cars, midgets, and even a start or two in the NASCAR Grand National Series West Division.
Watch a video clip of Chris' heat race victory HERE. (www.highvistavideo.com)

Santos is Fast With Fenders On, Too

Bobby Santos III's stock car has gotten off to a tremendous start. The midget, sprint car, and supermodified standout competed in 1 ARCA stock car series race for NASCAR owner Bill Davis Racing last year at the Iowa Speedway, qualifying 10th and finishing 6th. The Franklin, Mass. driver was looking to drastically improve upon that as he qualified on the pole of the ARCA event at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday night. Santos, still the youngest winner in International SuperModified Association history (he won at Oxford Plains in 2003 at the age of 17), led 116 of the first 123 laps of the ARCA race before a tangle with a lapped machine relegated him to 33rd place.

This week Bobby has been testing a NASCAR Busch Series car at Richmond International Raceway. In the first session on Tuesday, he only managed to lay down the 26th fastest lap, but by the end of the evening session, he had run the 13th fastest lap. Then in 2 sessions yesterday, Santos ran 2nd fastest and then in the last session of the two day open test, he ran the fastest lap! The Busch series will race at Richmond on May 4.

I'll leave it there this week...comments and questions and all the rest can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

News, Notes, and Other Assorted Tidbits

2007-03-14T11:11:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario (March 14, 2007)

There hasn't been all that much activity on the driver news front this off-season, but there have been a few noteworthy announcements:

Due to car owner Dave McLeod's tragic passing, Keith Dempster was left without a ride. That situation didn't last long, however, as it was announced that Glenn Styres will field a second car out of his stable for the former Can-Am Midget standout. Armed with his new top-flite ride, Dempster, a 2 time SOS champion, will definitely be looking to retake the lead in the all-time SOS win list standings, which he lost to Rick Wilson last season. Styres says there is only one stipulation - for Dempster to beat him at every race!

Daryl Turford has decided not to retire from racing after all. Daryl and father Pete decided they were "too dumb to quit" (their words, not mine) and will be back at some local and not so local speedways in 2007, proving that racing can be fun, even if you don't have lots of money to spend on it.

A couple of Can-Am Midget series notes...

After taking all of 2006 off, '04 Can-Am Champ Paul Smith will be back full time this season driving for Bill Davies and Larry Turnbull in the #1 Day-Glo car.

Alison McLeod will be back racing here in Ontario this season, this time on oval tracks. The Walsh team has added a 3rd car for the Mississauga teenager to drive in the Can-Am midget series, when she isn't racing stateside in the USAC Ford Focus Midget series for Bob East as part of the Ford Driver Development program.

In other news, Ohsweken Speedway is starting to announce a few details about the World of Outlaws event coming up on July 25. The mini-stock division will be the support division for the event and tickets will go on sale May 1. All seats will be numbered and reserved and the cost will be approximately $40 for the grandstands and $45 for the pits, but details of where tickets will be available has not yet been announced.

To finish up, I'd like to share a wonderful article on the old CNE Speedway in Toronto that I found on Canadian Racer (www.motorsportscentral.com), which includes some great and probably pretty rare colour photos from the late 50's and early 60's, courtesy of the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame. Click Here to see the article. Canadian Racer is without a doubt the best place to visit for Canadian racing history, and the site occasionally features photos and news from current racing events as well...Right now they have some photos posted from the annual Performance World show which took place recently in Toronto, featuring photos of Keith Dempster's and Alison McLeod's new rides, along with other SOS and Can-Am cars, and other assorted racing cars from Ontario.

That's all for this time...questions and comments are welcome at tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

News and Notes...

2007-02-28T13:51:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (February 27, 2007)

Some sad news out of Ohio...The historic Sandusky Speedway - home of the ISMA Hy-Miler Nationals - was vandalized and set on fire by 3 teenagers last week. Midwest Supermodified Association President and Sandusky Speedway track owner Kevin Jaycox apprehended the vandals, who are now in the custody of the local police, but not until they had destroyed the concession area and bar as well as 7 campers and trailers which were stored on the property. Damage is estimated at $105,000.

Also sad news out of Michigan this week...Boyne Machine Co., a producer of auto and racing parts and a strong supporter of short track racing in Western Michigan, burned to the ground on Sunday night. Here is a link to the full story: CLICK HERE

Boyne Machine owns or sponsors dozens of race teams, tracks, and events in Western Michigan.

On a happier note, the International Super-Modified Association (ISMA) franchise list has been filled to the maximum as usual...here is the list of the full time ISMA teams for 2007:

02 BELLINGER
5 ROMANOWSKI
9/97 LANE
11 VIC MILLER
16 STEVE MILLER
32 SOULE
33 PETRO
35/40/70 HOLBROOK
44 HAYNES
78 SAMMUT
84/94 LICHTY
90/91/99 GRAHAM
92 LEHNERT
95 RAYVALS

The ISMA franchise system has been successful enough that Oswego Speedway has adopted a similar franchise system for this coming season as well.

2007 Humberstone Speedway Sprint Car dates

2007-02-19T14:19:00.000-05:00

London Ontario (February 20, 2007)

Here are the last remaining pieces to the 2007 Ontario Open Wheel Schedule puzzle, the dates for the new sprint car division at Humberstone Speedway in Port Colbourne. It was originally thought to be a bi-weekly division at the track, but that has been scaled back slightly as there is an entire month off in July/August. The division will utilize the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals rules and specifications...Many of the dates seem to have been scheduled in order to add on to already scheduled dates by the 4 local sprint car sanctioning bodies.

2007 Humberstone Speedway Sprint Car Division Schedule:

Sunday, May 6th

Sunday, May 20th

Sunday, June 3rd

Sunday, June 24th

Sunday, July 1st

Sunday, July 15th

Sunday, August 12th

Sunday, August 26th (this show will be ASCS Patriot Region sanctioned)

Sprint Car season has already begun in earnest in a few locales...Here's a highlight video of some of the action that has taken place in California at the Perris Auto Speedway already this season:
http://www.racewayvideo.com/clips/070203/feature%20highlights.wmv

(from www.RacewayVideo.com - clip will take a few minutes to load)

2007 Season Starting to Take Shape

2007-02-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

London, Ontario (February 1, 2007) -

Of the seven touring open wheel groups which sanctioned events in Ontario in 2006, only the Auto Value Super Sprints and Empire Super Sprints have yet to release their '07 schedules.

Some quick notes about what we know so far:

According to the new Cayuga Speedway Park website (www.cayugaracing.com), the Auto Value Super Sprints will return to the big 5/8's mile this season for the first time since 2001. Two events for the sprints are on the schedule in fact - July 28 and September 15. The September 15 date coincides with the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway, but according to various sources, the show at Cayuga will be held in the afternoon so as not to conflict with the Nationals. Cayuga and Ohsweken are a scant 15 miles or so apart, creating a long weekend full of sprint car racing for those who wish to make an already great weekend even better. Charlie Schultz, who now drives the well known May Motorsports #7 Supermodifieds on the MSA and ISMA circuits, was the winner in AVSS competition at Cayuga in 2001, the only time the series has competed there.

The Grand Bend Speedway on the grounds of the Grand Bend Motorplex is undergoing a major transformation these days. The old 1/6th mile track which was used for micro sprints and the Junior Canadian Auto Racing series is gone, and a 1/4 mile tri-oval is being built in it's place. With the increased track size, full sized stock cars and trucks will be a part of the weekly show at The Bend for the first time, and - the news that pertains to us open wheel fans - the Can-Am Midget Series has two dates scheduled at the track as well.

Humberstone Speedway's official schedule has not been released yet, but rumour has it that 360 sprints are scheduled to compete at the Port Colbourne dirt track on a bi-weekly basis in 2007. Unfortunately, to make way for this, the Southern Ontario Sprints were not invited back after sanctioning 3 shows there last season. Humberstone will have only one sanctioned sprint car show in 2007, that being an ASCS Patriot Region event in late August.

Lastly (for this edition), for those who don't already know, the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars are scheduled to appear at Ohsweken Speedway for the first time this season - the date is a Wednesday night, July 25th, and with as many as 30 teams chasing the tour full time, it promises to showcase one of the best sprint car fields ever assembled in Canada.

That's all for now...comments and everything else are welcome at tommygoudge@hotmail.com

It May Be Snowing Here...

2007-01-26T21:26:00.000-05:00

...but race season is definitely underway in Florida! 70 or more of the best 360 sprint car drivers on the continent have converged on Tampa's East Bay Raceway Park, including a fair share of Canadian drivers such as Kevin Job and Glenn Styres from Ontario, Steve Poirier, Alain Bergeron, and Daniel Lampron from Quebec, and Chris Schmelzle all the way from Victoria, British Columbia!

Listen to the action live from East Bay on www.highspeedradio.com with ASCS Patriot Region announcer Rich Vleck on the mic. Check out photos and results on www.hoseheads.com and www.ascsracing.com

Dave McLeod Passes Away

2007-01-16T10:10:00.000-05:00

The following is a news release from the Southern Ontario Sprints:

Dave McLeod Passes Away We are very sad to announce that veteran race driver and car owner, Dave MacLeod suffered a massive heart attack and passed away on Monday, January 15, 2007. Dave had been a loyal supporter of the SOS since our inception in 1996. He competed with the SOS as a driver for many of those years behind the wheel of the #32. During the last couple of years he had hung up his helmet but stayed very active fielding a 2-car team with drivers such as Mark Schulz, Keith Dempster, Jamie Collard and Jim Porter behind the wheel. Dave was a very popular individual that always made his presence known in the pits and was always there to offer a lending hand whenever it was needed. Dave will be truly missed. Our thoughts and prayers got out to Dave’s family and friends. Mertz & Sons Funeral Home 911 Englewood Ave. Town of Tonawanda 716-836-2935 Funeral Visiting Hours Tuesday 2-4pm & 6-8pm; Wednesday 2-4pm & 6-8pm Funeral Service on Thursday at 11:00 AM

Some Random Thoughts...

2006-09-03T16:22:00.000-04:00

This weekend and next, I won't be going to any races...other prior commitments are keeping me away from the track(s). That hasn't stopped me from thinking about racing though.

August is one of the busiest months on the open wheel calendar, with the Knoxville Nationals - the super bowl of sprint car racing - stuck right in the middle. These days, the final night of Knoxville is the only live sprint car tv broadcast of the whole season...It's a far cry from what we once had in the late 90's during the heyday of TNN, but I guess it's better than nothing. I thought Speed Channel did a pretty decent job of the broadcast this season, most notably with camera angles and positioning microphones around the track to try and capture what it's like being there at least a little bit. I didn't enjoy the attempt to make the Brian Brown/Danny Lasoski incident into a soap opera episode, but I guess the network would tell you that it's just good reporting to show an incident 6-7 times and ramble on repeating the same things about it...probably just a coincidence that the Fox Network owns Speed Channel...Next year I hope to be in Iowa for the Nationals instead of watching on tv anyway...

August was a roller coaster month in the short track open wheel racing world, punctuated by great racing and record-setting performances, but also by tragedy. Steve King, a former NCRA champion from Jetmore, Kansas was fatally injured in a crash at Knoxville during the first prelim night. Just 2 nights later, 21 year old driver Joe Rebman was killed in a crash at the Mansfield Speedway in Ohio. It was the 2nd fatality to hit the Rebman team and Mansfield Speedway in 13 months as veteran driver Don Townsend was killed in a practice crash during a USAC event there in July of last season while driving for Rebman Motorsports.

Straying away from my usual open wheel topics for a minute, here's yet another reason why it's hard for me to take CASCAR seriously...Last Labour Day weekend when the CASCAR Super Series competed at Delaware Speedway here in London as the headliners of the Great Canadian Race Weekend, time trials for the 300 lapper produced a fast time of 19.421 seconds by Dave Whitlock. Well, Delaware and CASCAR had a falling out over the offseason and Delaware's weekly Late Model division took over as the headline class of the weekend. Delaware has moved away from the old CASCAR Sportsman rules for their Late Model division over the past 2 seasons and now have rules consistent with many other speedways and series in Ontario such as the ALSTAR series and tracks like Flamboro Speedway. Pete Vanderwyst's fast time on Friday night in his Lucas Oil Weekend Warrior Series Sportsman spec Late Model was 18.656 seconds, nearly 8 tenths of a second faster than the CASCAR Super Series fast time 1 year ago. So basically the weekly Limited or Sportsman Late Model division at most tracks here in Ontario is faster than what is supposedly Canada's "premier" stock car racing series. How does that make any sense?!

Entry for August 26, 2006 - Ohsweken Speedway

2006-08-29T08:17:00.000-04:00

For the 3rd time in 5 weeks, we were back at Ohsweken again...the weather was cool, but humid, and there was a threat of rain - fast laptimes and good racing usually come of this. 34 cars were on hand and I'd say at least 10 of them were capable of winning tonight.

Due to the threat of rain, the sprints were run first in the order all night long and in the heat races, this made for some VERY fast lap times as the track was still in tip-top shape. So fast in fact that Glenn Styres ran some laps on the way to the win in the first heat that were less than a tenth of a second off Kenny Jacobs' track record set last season during the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals.

The racing in all the heats was pretty good, with wins being split evenly between the local Southern Ontario Sprints drivers Styres and Fred Cade, and SoD "invaders" Ken Mackey and Dain Naida. The heats also provided me with a firsthand example of how hard a driver sometimes has to work to get into the feature under this format as Jamie Collard finished 4th in his heat but did not accrue enough points to make it into the feature. I really like the idea of this format since it makes drivers race for it a little more, and I hope maybe it'll catch on with more groups in the area.

In the B-Main, which turned out to be pretty entertaining, 3 Southern Ontario Sprints regulars - Craig Downie, Tom Huppunen, and Jamie Collard - stormed to the front and were never seriously challenged, with SoD regular Davey Brown taking the 4th and final transfer spot from fellow Michiganders Bill Johnson and Kevin Atkins. Two drivers who surprisingly did not make the feature were Jim Porter and Keith Dempster in the McLeod Racing cars. Both drivers have won SOS features in the past and Dempster is in fact a former champion and sits 2nd in all time SOS feature wins, but neither have been able to make a go of it in the McLeod cars, which have had quite a few different drivers at their controls over the past couple of seasons. On this night, Dempster just didn't seem to be up to speed, and Porter missed his heat for some reason, but then had a decent run in the B-Main, finishing 7th after starting scratch, but well out of a transfer spot.

In the A-Main, a good battle ensued between Fred Cade, Glenn Styres, Dustin Daggett, and Ken Mackey with things eventually settling down after Styres made a strong outside move on Mackey in turn 2 to take the lead. Daggett got into 2nd but was not really making up much ground on Styres until the #0 car started suffering from a broken left front shock which surfaced early in the race. Eventually the vibration actually caused part of the nosepiece/hood assembly to fly up into Styres' field of vision and he touched the wall coming out of turn 2 and stopped. It has not been a very good year for Styres, but the strength he showed on Friday night bodes well for his chances in the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, which are coming up in just a few weeks.

From there Daggett pulled away for the win with Cade, Mackey, Gary Fast, Rick Wilson, Jamie Collard who charged all the way from the B-Main to 6th, Chuck Hebing who had a couple of adventures which put him to the back twice, Dain Naida, Greg Dalman, and Ryan Grubaugh. Grubaugh looked strong all night but could not put together a good finish as the SoD regular was penalized for jumping the start in his heat and went to the work area briefly during the feature.

Strangely the next two weekends for me don't include any racing at all as work, family functions, and a softball tournament are getting in the way. The season is really starting to wind down now and my next action will be on September 15th and 16th at Ohsweken Speedway for the big finale - the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals. 78 cars were already pre-registered at the July 31st deadline and that number will surely grow by the time the big weekend comes around...it should be a great weekend!

Comments, questions, and whatever else can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the Nationals!

Entry for August 19 - Full Throttle Nationals

2006-08-29T07:44:00.000-04:00

This week we ventured to the I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan for the Full Throttle Nationals. The track is actually only 212 miles from my house, but today the border was backed up quite a bit and it took us long enough to get to the track that I was worried about getting a seat. As it turned out my worries were unfounded as a rather sparse crowd was on hand. The car count was also rather sparse compared with last season's edition of this event as only 30 cars were on hand, instead of the 50 that showed up a year ago.

This event takes place over 2 days, but yesterday's weather forecast was bad enough that we decided not to make the trip. Of course since we didn't go, they managed to get the races in - that is always the way it works. It appeared that they didn't do much to the track to get it ready for the finale and it was dry and taking rubber in hot laps. The racing was still pretty entertaining though.

The feature is where things got a little strange...There were quite a few cautions, most for minor spins, but there was also a big crash involving Steve Irwin as he went off the end of the backstretch and flipped. Normally a flip in a sprint car race means an automatic red flag, but the I-96 Speedway officials frankly dropped the ball. Not only was there no red flag, but it took more than a lap before they even threw a caution flag. They are extremely lucky that Irwin was unhurt in the incident and immediate medical assistance was not needed. Irwin, as mentioned, was unhurt, and in fact walked down the frontstraight to have a talk with one of the officials, no doubt voicing his displeasure with the mistake.

The caution to clean up Irwin's car was a long one and fuel concerns were also raised, but as it turned out, nobody ran out. The strangeness did not end here as with less than one lap to go, another caution waved, much to the dismay of race-long leader Chuck Hebing, who came all the way from Ontario, NY for this race. On the restart, Hebing appeared to falter slightly and Greg Dalman dove to the inside and took over the lead down the frontstretch. Frankly, this was another botched call, as at every sprint car race, drivers are not supposed to pull out of line until the pass the cone on the frontstretch. In this case, Dalman was alongside Hebing at the cone and the start should have been called back. It is a shame that an otherwise pretty good event came down to such a questionable finish, but it certainly does make for some interesting discussions anyway...

Next week it's back to Ohsweken again, this time for the annual visit by the Sprints on Dirt, now under ASCS sanctioning. It will be fun to see their passing points format used on a track that is actually wide enough to pass on. Comments, and the usual can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at Ohsweken!

Entry for August 11, 2006 - Ohsweken Speedway

2006-08-28T19:27:00.000-04:00

Back at home again this week, Ohsweken Speedway was once again the destination. On this night a fine field of 35 cars were pitside and like 2 weeks ago, the track was once again not quite it's usual self, but still racey.

Like 2 weeks ago, 4 pretty entertaining heat races got the night started off well, and once again Warren Mahoney and Brad Malloy won their heats, joined this time by Rick Wilson and Joe Middlemiss. Unlike past years, it's necessary for drivers to race pretty hard in SOS heat races these days as nobody wants to run the B-Main. On this night usual front runners Mike Lauterborn and Jamie Collard were unable to transfer through their heats and the two staged an entertaining battle in the B-Main for the final transfer spot, with Collard - in his new #F37 ride - eventually besting the "Wild Woodpecker" Lauterborn, who has had a terrible season in his return to sprint car racing after more than a year off.

In the feature, John Reigling started 4th and took the lead early in the race from polesitter Jim Davies, never to be seriously challenged. Rick Wilson and Kevin Job made things interesting coming from 10th and 13th respectively to finish 2nd and 3rd. Warren Mahoney turned in a solid performance finishing 4th, and officially took over the SOS points lead as Glenn Styres spun in the feature and did not finish. Bobby Crawford came home right behind Mahoney in 5th and also overtook Styres in the points with a scant 8 points separating he and Mahoney. For the 2nd race in a row, Brad Malloy came home in 6th place after starting in the top 5. Malloy has been solid in his rookie year in the sprints, but has been overshadowed by Kevin Job and Joey Middlemiss who will probably battle for the rookie of the year award right down to the last race of the season. Last week's winner Fred Cade came home in 7th but was not really a factor on this night.

This coming weekend, I would like to go to Indiana Midget Week, but my work schedule has interfered with that plan, so the more likely trip will be to the I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan for the Full Throttle Nationals. This show was on the American Sprint Cars on Tour schedule earlier in the season but has since been taken off and will now be an open 360 show run by the track. I'm not sure what to expect, but last year I missed this show and am still kicking myself for it, so hopefully Mother Nature co-operates.

Comments and the usual can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

Entry for August 5, 2006 - Waterford Speedbowl

2006-08-28T17:30:00.000-04:00

Well I guess this weekend included some racing after all. Being away on vacation in Quebec, I hadn't really planned on seeing any races...Then we went to Massachusets and Connecticut for a couple of days and I still didn't really plan on seeing any races. Though I knew there were some tracks around and I knew roughly which nights they ran, I didn't bother checking their schedules or any of that stuff. So it was with some surprise that on a sunny Saturday afternoon, our drive to the Mystic Aquarium just happened to take us right past the Waterford Speedbowl, and the Waterford Speedbowl just happened to be having the travelling NorthEastern Midget Association series visiting!

Anyways, Waterford is a tight little 3/8's mile paved oval and fairly flat, but the midgets made good use of the space they had to work with. A fine field of 27 winged midgets were in the pits and many well-known drivers were in attendance such as the ageless Jeff Horn, young Bobby Santos III and sister Erica, Mike Ordway Jr, Kyle Carpenter, and Nokie Fornoro. On this night a young 2nd year midget driver named Mike Keeler stole the thunder from the big names though as he was the one standing in victory lane at the end of the 30 lap feature.

There was lots of good racing throughout the night as the NEMA competition is very even throughout the field. In the feature, Nokie Fornoro started 12th but didn't stay there long - he was in 4th place by the end of the 3rd lap, and shortly thereafter he overtook early leader Keeler for the top spot and looked to be a runaway winner, but that is not how it turned out. Keeler turned on the jets and repassed Fornoro a few laps later and never really looked back, although a late race charge by Bobby Santos - who also came from deep in the field - made things interesting at the end. Santos looked like he was going to take the win as he closed on Keeler quickly after passing Fornoro for 2nd, and was all over Keeler's tail tank. However, a caution period with 3 laps left proved to be Santos' undoing, as Keeler took off on the restart and pulled away for the win. Fornoro eventually faded to 4th at the end while Santos held on for 2nd. In post-race interviews, Fornoro and Santos both seemed to think that they heated up their tires too much coming through the field, resulting in their tires sealing over during the caution periods.

The car counts in the other divisions at Waterford were very light and the crowd count was too. It was a little bit disapointing because it was a big two day weekend for the track, but I guess most of the folks were planning on coming for the Sunday afternoon stuff...Me I'd rather see open wheel cars anyway so I'm glad I happened to be driving by on Saturday!

I'll be back home in Ontario and back at Ohsweken Speedway next weekend for the Southern Ontario Sprints. Comments, questions, and whatever else can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

Entry for July 28 - Ohsweken Speedway

2006-08-28T17:04:00.000-04:00

After lots of travelling this season, it feels kind of strange to be back home watching a race an hour's drive from home. The Southern Ontario Sprints were the attraction at Ohsweken on this night, and it shaped up to be an interesting event right from the start. The track was not in it's usual tip-top shape and started to slick off even in hot laps, but this didn't make the racing any less interesting.

31 cars were in the pits and I have to take a step back and realize that until this season, 31 cars would be a great field for any sprint car show in Ontario, but now it seems to be par for the course, especially at Ohsweken. 4 entertaining heats provided some interesting results as Bob Crawford, "little" Gary Evans, Brad Malloy, and Warren Mahoney were the winners while points leader Glenn Styres and '05 champ Adam West both failed to finish in a transfer position and were forced to run the B-Main. Joe Middlemiss also did not make the feature after the engine broke in his car, but brother Rob, who had a fine 4th place run in his heat, was kind enough to allow Joe to use his car in the feature as Joe is in the top 5 in SOS points and also in the running for the rookie of the year award, though he would have to start last due to changing cars.

The feature race was unpredictable and wild with 2 cautions for flips at the beginning, with the rest of the race running clean and green from then on. The track was pretty used up, especially around the top, but that didn't seem to stop anyone from trying any and all lines to try and gain an advantage. Dick Mahoney jumped ahead and took the lead for the first 3/4's of the event with as many as 7 drivers all fighting for the runner-up spot when they all started to catch Mahoney's mount with about 7 laps to go and proceeded to have a wild, sometimes 3-wide battle for the lead. Fred Cade eventually came out with the lead after going from 5th to 1st in one corner and opened up a bit of a lead. Crawford and the hard-charging Joe Middlemiss - who started 24th - also emerged from the mob but did not have enough time to catch Cade as the veteran racer who switched to sprints last season took home his first ever sprint car feature win.

After 13 straight weekends of travelling to races, I probably won't be seeing any this coming weekend as I have some vacation time of a different kind planned. Brother and Father will probably be going to Dixie or Owosso in Michigan for the AVSS shows at those tracks and I will be back the following weekend for another visit to Ohsweken for the Southern Ontario Sprints, this time with the DIRT 358 Modified Lucas Oil Shootout tour on the card as well.

Any questions, comments, and whatever else can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com as usual.

See you in 2 weeks!

Entry for July 21, 22, and 23: Indiana

2006-08-14T18:26:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario:
After hearing lots of stories and seeing lots of races on tv, it was finally time to make a trip to Indiana.

Friday saw us making a 500 mile journey from home to Terre Haute, Indiana where the finale of USAC Indiana Sprintweek was scheduled to take place at the legendary Terre Haute Action Track. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas as event organizers were forced to cancel the race due to the threat of severe thunderstorms and flooding. The storm didn't arrive until about 10pm, but it probably would have caused some serious problems with getting race haulers stuck in the mud, and the lightning probably wouldn't have been too fun either. To the South and West of us in some other towns, severe flooding and felled trees were causing issues, but the really bad part of the storm missed us.

We awoke Saturday morning still not knowing where we were going that night, but we finally decided on the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, just about 30 miles from Terre Haute. We decided to go there as it was a special event called the "Putnamville Clash" for the traditional wingless sprints, which are staples of dirt track racing in Indiana. An interesting little 1/4 mile (they call it 5/16) paperclip shaped oval greeted us, along with a great field of 48 sprinters, including area standouts like Jon Stanbrough and Mat Neely on hand along with a couple of other travelling drivers who stayed in the area for the weekend after sprintweek.

Track prep was a little suspect, but it turned out ok, although some large ruts developed in the corners making for a bit of a rough and tumble race night - "old time racing" if you will. The racing itself was fabulous, as it should be since sprint cars without wings on a 1/4 mile really is racing the way it ought to be. Numerous slide jobs and furious racing for transfer spots into the main, along with a couple of flips highlighted the heat races, as the rough surface bit a couple of overzealous drivers, most notably USAC National touring driver Mat Neely in the Lucas Oil car who scratched for the night after a hard flip in his heat. Critter Malone also went for a ride in his heat but he got it back together for his B-Main. Critter nearly stole the show in the 2nd B-Main and got to 5th from a 16th starting spot, but couldn't get into a transfer spot.

Another standout driver who did make it through his B-Main was Dickie Gaines. After starting at the back of his heat (due to the open draw for starting spots for this event), Gaines charged through the field but finished 1 spot short of a transfer. In the B-Main he cruised home to an uneventful victory to earn a spot at the back of the A-Main grid. At the end of the hard-fought feature, Gaines found himself in the 2nd position behind Jon Stanbrough, who has the most North American short track feature wins this season and is simply dominating the local scene in Indiana.

Stanbrough had to work pretty hard for his win though as "Stomp and Steer" Scotty Weir gave him all he could handle. Supposedly Scotty hates that nickname, but it sure does describe his driving style well - Scotty is a Wild Man! On this particular night Weir was stubbornly riding the high line around the track, right through the largest ruts and bumps. He was definitely fast when he didn't get too out of shape, but the bumps were having a "2 steps forward, 1 step back" effect on his race as he could gain a bunch of time racing a line nobody else would touch, but then lose some if he caught a rut the wrong way. Midway through the feature he caught Stanbrough for the lead and the two had an epic slidejob war for about 5 laps before Scotty again caught a rut, nearly flipped, and slipped back to 5th. In the end he came home 4th behind Stanbrough, Gaines, and Derek O'Dell who quietly ran a very good race to finish on the podium.

All in all it was a pretty good night, and I would give the track a solid B if I were grading it. It wouldn't be my first choice as far as a place to visit on a Saturday night, but if you're in the area it's a good place to check out.

Sunday morning came pretty early after being at Lincoln Park until nearly midnight, but we had no time to waste as the legendary Winchester Speedway was our next destination for an afternoon show featuring the AVSS/HOSS King of the Wings challenge race. It took a good bit of the morning to drive from one side of Indiana to the other and we arrived at the track around lunchtime with bright sunshine and a fine field of 30 sprint cars greeting us.

Winchester is billed as the "World's Fastest Half-Mile", and it's pretty hard to dispute that claim. For the serious race fan, Winchester is a "must-see" - Auto racing has taken place in this cornfield since 1916, and brave drivers have taken on the daunting 34 degree banking since 1921 when the track was rebuilt from it's previous flat configuration.

Lap times were slightly slower than the previous year because of hotter weather, which made the track somewhat greasy and even more treacherous. Amazingly, only a few minor spins slowed the day's action. Also amazingly, Cameron Dodson was in attendance, and DIDN'T set fast time - That honour went to veteran Jeff Bloom. It was a rather ordinary race, and Cameron Dodson did end up taking home the feature win for the second year in a row, but nothing is ever THAT ordinary at a place like Winchester.

Incidentally, AVSS announcer Tom Hartsell recognized my brother and I from past events this summer and came over to introduce himself and say hello. Thanks Tom and nice to meet you!

The Sprint Car portion of the event was run first (before the modifieds and late models) and ended around 4:00 so we decided to take a slight detour "on the way home" as we knew the Kokomo Speedway runs regularly on Sunday nights with wingless sprints as the marquee class. I had heard good things about Kokomo as it was redone over the offseason with a reshaping of the track, new dirt, and new walls and catchfence among the improvements. As we arrived around 6:00, the tail end of a rain shower was moving through but nobody at the track seemed that concerned about it and the sprinters were out wheel-packing as we walked in.

Admission for a regular show here is just $12 and it is definitely well worth that price - As soon as we arrived and looked at the track, I knew it was going to be a good night. I don't know what the track looked like before the renovation, but what greeted us was a tacky, wide, sweeping 1/4 mile. They time-trial the cars in groups every week at Kokomo and it seems to work pretty well. Heat race action was exciting and intense in all the divisions with lots of local drivers sprint car drivers whom I had never seen or heard of before having great runs including Cole Whitt, who finished 2nd in heat #2 and Corey Smith who won the 3rd heat. The previous night's combatants - Stanbrough and Weir - won the other 2 heats.

During heat race action in the other divisions, a street stock driver was involved in one of the more spectacular crashes I've seen this season as he barrell rolled entering turn 3, with some hard impacts which actually completely dislodged the entire rear end and axle assembly and sent it rolling down into the infield with the wheels still attached!

Because of the tacky track conditions, the sprints were driving into the corners VERY hard and creating some ruts and berms along the cushion. Between each race the track crew used an assortment of equipment to remedy the situation and keep the track relatively smooth.

Come feature time, Ryan Pace jumped out to an early lead and held it until the last corner of the last lap when Jon Stanbrough slipped by for the feature win, but that is not to say there wasn't good racing in the feature as nearly every position other than the lead was changing hands each lap.

Even with the rain on Friday night, this was easily one of the best race weekends I've ever done and I can't wait to go back to Indiana! Questions and comments and whatever else can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

Entry for July 14 and 15, 2006: Eldora Speedway

2006-07-18T14:16:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario, July 18, 2006:
Eldora Speedway is an interesting place...It isn't my absolute favourite place to go as it is for many other fans, but it's still an awesome venue for sprint car racing and any season would not feel complete without a visit there.

As usual on King's Royal weekend it was blisteringly hot and rain showers popped up briefly, but they never stay long. On Friday night a short downpour came right as hot laps were about to start, delaying the action by close to 2 hours as the crew worked to run the track in again.

The rain made the track pretty fast all night and made for some good racing. As usual at Eldora, track position was at a premium, as evidenced by 20-time champion Steve Kinser's failure to transfer from his heat race or the B-Main into the feature - not that he didn't try as he, Paul McMahon, Daryn Pittman, and Dion Hindi performed a few heartstopping maneuvers as they fought for the final 2 transfer spots to the A-Main. World of Outlaw series regulars Hindi and Pittman held on for the spots, with National Sprint Tour regulars Kinser and McMahon on the outside looking in, with another of their bretheren - Jason Meyers - behind them in 7th.

Speaking of hearstopping maneuvers, Tyler Walker did his best to make sure he was noticed on Saturday night. After changing an engine and missing his spot in line for time trials, which necessitated starting at the back of his heat, Tyler charged through the field in an effort to transfer to the feature, which he did, but not before pulling one of the most wicked slide jobs I've ever seen on Chad Blonde to get there.

In the Friday night feature it looked like Kevin Swindell's race to lose...and lose it he did. After taking the lead and opening a gap on the field, the young driver began to push his luck, driving through the corners 4 wheels above the cushion...While being fast, running in the loose stuff is like walking a tightrope, even for the seasoned veterans, which Kevin is not. After making it through a few laps like this, Kevin bobbled slightly, touched the wall, and went for a series of wild flips, making for a long night for his crew as they needed to have a car back together for the very next night when the big money was on the line. Meanwhile Joey Saldana was also racing 4 wheels above the cushion, but he's had a lot more experience doing it and managed to charge from a B-Main transfer spot to 8th in the feature. Craig Dollansky took the lead after Swindell's miscue and cruised home for the feature win.

On Saturday it did not rain at all - I think the track crew had planned on it raining - and the track was dry/slick and taking rubber right from the start...numerous - not to mention long - breaks in the action for track work put a damper on the night as the feature didn't take the green until after 1 AM. It was still a good night though, with lots of good racing. The King's Royal format makes things tough on the racers as 6 heat races are run with only the top 3 transferring to the A-Main. The invert for each heat is 4, so the fastest car in each race actually starts outside of a transfer spot, which ended up biting the night's fastest qualifier, Ed Lynch, Jr. "The Apollo Rocket" (Ed is from Apollo, PA...coolest nickname in racing) got himself into a qualified position in his heat but was overtaken on the last lap by the hard charging Tyler Walker. Lynch was able to start the feature as the fastest car not already qualified, but a possible good starting position was lost.

Saturday night's B-Main was another pretty good one as Rob Chaney fought off the advances of Jason Meyers to take the final transfer spot. In the A-Main, Danny Lasoski took the early lead but Joey Saldana was stalking him and made the pass for the lead on the 20th of 40 circuits, never to be overtaken. Donny Schatz also got by Lasoski late in the event and the two finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Kevin Swindell atoned for his mistake a night earlier with a strong 4th place run. Steve Kinser made it into the feature on this night but blew a tire and crashed, finishing 18th.

I'm pretty worn out after a long weekend and lots of driving, so I'll just leave it there. Next week it's off to Indiana for me and I'm very excited about it. The Terre Haute Action Track and Winchester Speedway are two of the places I'll be, with a couple of venues yet to be determined.

Questions or comments can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com
See you at the races!

Entry for July 8, 2006 - Toledo Speedway 2

2006-07-10T20:55:00.000-04:00

Toledo, Attica, and Humberstone are the only 3 tracks I've been to more than once this season so far...Mother Nature's intervention is partly to blame for this, but I have also tried to keep a little bit of variety in my schedule as well. While I was returning to Toledo for the 2nd time in less than a month, this time it was for different divisions.

The USAC National Midget Car series and National Sprint Car series were on hand for what is now seemingly an annual doubleheader for the two divisions at Toledo. The car count was somewhat of a disapointment this season, if only in comparison to last season. The lack of a companion show for the weekend (as Mansfield was last season) probably was the main contributing reason for the smaller fields.

Nonetheless, it was still a very competitive field of cars on hand with time trials in both divisions being very tight. USAC's rules make it REALLY tough for the fast qualifiers as each heat race is fully inverted with the fastest car starting dead last. It makes things a little more interesting...or it would if there were enough cars on hand to make it worthwhile to race your way into the feature and stay out of the semi/conci. It will be interesting to see this format at work in a couple of weeks when there are 40+ cars at Terre Haute when I am there for the Indiana Sprintweek finale.

Both features were pretty good, despite the midget feature plodding along due to some cautions and a red flag. Kevin Swindell won the midget feature, having fought off the advances of Bryan Clauson throughout much of the event, while Bobby Santos III - whom Supermodified fans have been watching for awhile now from his days in the Lane #97 on the ISMA circuit - took home sprint car honours after making a daring pass in lapped traffic on pavement master Dave Steele for the lead with just a handful of laps left. Santos looked to have a chance at the double until his midget's engine blew an oil line a third of the way into that feature. Swindell's "famous father" Sammy was interviewed in victory lane and it was one of the first times I've heard him cheered, especially without some boos!

All in all a pretty good race night at one of my favourite tracks. Next up is one of the highlights of my whole season every year...The King's Royal at Eldora Speedway is pretty much nirvanna for sprint car fans. It's going to be a lllooonnnggg week waiting for Friday morning when we leave...

That's all for this week. Continue sending comments, questions, complaints, or whatever else you've got to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

Tommy

Entry for June 30, 2006: Dixie Motor Speedway

2006-07-07T12:48:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario. July 7, 2006: Dixie Motor Speedway seems like a short drive from home these days, despite the fact that it there are actually 150 miles and a border crossing between here and there. Once again for the 5th week in a row the Auto Value Super Sprints were our main attraction, and once again the car count was a bit light, with 22 cars in the pits and 21 taking time after Jimmy McCune - a former winner at Dixie - blew an engine in practice.

What the field lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality however as all 21 cars which took time were within 1 second of Jeff Bloom's quick time of 12.803 - a far cry from Cameron Dodson's 12.18 last season, but I doubt anybody will ever touch that one. Dixie seems to be very weather sensitive and inconsistent from week to week, as this past Friday's fast time would only have been 7th fastest in the same event one season ago, when no fewer than 12 cars got into the 12 second bracket, as compared with only 3 this time around.

As much as I enjoy the AVSS series and have for something like 7 years now, I do have a consistent gripe every year, and that is the lack of competition in the heat races. This problem stems from the fact that the average car count for an AVSS event is usually somewhere between 22-28 (more often on the lower side) and there is little to race for in the heats - heat results do not affect feature starting positions, and more often than not there is no B Main to worry about so drivers tend to just settle in and let the laps click away, saving their tires for the feature. I believe heat results do award points towards the season standings, but not enough to make drivers race for them and waste their tires before the feature, which pays the real points. Heat races in AVSS seem to be glorified practice sessions most of the time.

I don't mean to pick on AVSS with this - any series which doesn't consistently draw enough cars for B-Mains has this same problem, but I see the AVSS a lot so that is where I have noticed it. I don't know what the answer to the problem is, but I do like the idea of the passing points system which SOD has adopted thanks to their new sanctioning agreement with ASCS over the winter. Basically the system rewards those who pass cars in their heat race by giving them a better feature starting spot. I'm not sure how this would work with AVSS since they have time trials to determine the feature starting lineup - and I wouldn't want to see them do away with those because they are fun to watch - but it might be worth looking into.

Anyways, it was a pretty average night at the races...Dixie's owner and promoter was accomodating and allowed the AVSS to run their feature first so the drivers and teams could head on down the road to Angola, Indiana for the following night's AVSS event. Coupled with somewhat low car counts in Dixie's regular divisions, which meant no B-Mains at all, the AVSS feature started not long after 9:00 and was done early enough that we stayed and watched the modified feature and still got home around midnight.

Tyler Underwood was the winner of the AVSS feature after he started on the front row, but it was not a cakewalk by any means as lapped traffic and the persistant Bryan Lay kept him honest. Lay and Bill Tyler raced wheel to wheel for many laps for the 2nd position with Tyler abusing his right rear so badly that smoke was pouring off of it in each set of corners as he tried to keep Lay behind him. Tyler eventually retired from the event because his tire was so used up in fact. Another strong competitor - Tommy Fedewa also retired from the event after contact racing through lapped traffic with Curt Schumaker for 4th place caused Tommy to spin and suffer a flat tire. Underwood's win continued a trend in AVSS again this season as there has only been 1 repeat winner (Brian Lay) out of the 8 races held so far.

After what became "Michigan Month" for me in June, the month of July will see me at racetracks in Ohio and a few in Indiana. First up is a return visit to the Toledo Speedway this Saturday for the (hopefully) annual USAC Sprint and Midget doubleheader. Last season even a brief visit from Mother Nature couldn't ruin the night, which ended up being one of the highlights of my season as Michael Lewis, Bobby East, and Josh Wise came to the checkered flag in the sprint car feature 3 wide, with Lewis winning by a nose. The only problem this time around is that both the HOSS and AVSS series have races scheduled on the same night, so none of their competitors will be taking the wing off to run this time around. Last season Ryan Litt was the only one to try it anyway, but it would be nice if the different pavement sprint car groups could work together a bit just the same...

That's all for this week...As usual comments and everything else can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

Entry for June 24, 2006: Berlin Raceway

2006-06-27T01:13:00.000-04:00

London, Ontario. June 27, 2006: Every time I go to Berlin Raceway I am struck by how professional and clean everything is there...From the actual race cars to the bathrooms, everything there is just flat out done right...I'm sure this has something to do with the fact that the track is on a fairgrounds and the fairboard is apparently actively involved in the track operations...

Even the racers themselves are quite good...All divisions feature lots of good side by side and even 3 wide racing quite often, but there are few bumping incidents and even fewer caution flags...I'm sure the multi-groove racetrack has something to do with the calibre of the racing, but I think the racers still deserve lots of credit. Every weekly car there is painted nicely and free of the dents and crumpled sheet metal you sometimes see in the lower divisions at other weekly tracks...

Because of how nice everything is there, and how well it's run, it baffles me that they don't fix what seems to be a serious safety issue with the retaining wall in Turn 3, but I guess there's a reason.

Because of a couple of tough weekends for the AVSS cars recently with crashes and blown engines, and the HOSS series racing a few hours to the South in Anderson, Indiana, the sprint car count was a little thin at Berlin, with 22 cars in attendance and 21 taking time (Jason Parrish blew an engine in hot laps and scratched for the evening). For awhile it didn't seem like many fast times were going to be run, but by the end, Dorman Snyder ran 13.00, just .05 seconds off of Cameron Dodson's track record set last season on Labour Day weekend.

Berlin did something interesting that I haven't really seen before because the sprints were in town...All their weekly divisions ran features only - no heat races - with the feature grids lined up by time trials and a last chance race/conci if it was needed. I rather like this idea compared to some tracks giving their regular "premiere" division the night off, mostly because this way we still got to see the awesome Outlaw Super Late Models that are Berlin's weekly bread and butter. There was a bit of wasted time and a couple of lengthy caution flags which slowed the program slightly, so we didn't get out of the track until 10:45, but if things had gone a little better, leaving by 10:00 or so wouldn't have been out of the question...As far as I'm concerned, no racing program needs to go beyond 10:00-10:30...Some tracks seem to feel the need to drag the program out longer than that, perhaps to sell more food and beer and whatever else, but I much prefer to be home and in bed at a halfway decent hour, and I'm sure other fans do too...a well organized program at a good racetrack is what keeps people like me coming back.

Brian Lay ended up absolutely dominating the feature to become the first repeat winner of the 2006 AVSS season, but given a few more laps Jason Blonde would have given Brian a run for his money as he was coming hard after starting 7th and not really doing much for the first 1/2 of the race...A Michigander whose brother Chad races 410 sprints on dirt with the All Stars, and weekly at Butler, Michigan, Blonde is back in the saddle of Jim Brown's #55 Southwestern Truck Service sprinter out of Delaware, Ontario, which has also been driven in the past by London area drivers Mike Ling and Sean Stafford, and should be a force to be reckoned with all season...His first feature win since getting back in the 55 came last weekend at the Baer Field Speedway.

Ryan Litt from Lyons just outside of London also had a strong finish in 4th place, but likely could have done better had he not used up his tires quite so much, especially in his heat race...According to Ryan, he ran the last few laps of the feature with a flat Left Rear and the Right Rear was down to the cords as well...Typical Rookie. ;)

That's about it for this week...hard to believe it's almost July already...This weekend we'll be laying kind of low in preparation for a huge month of travelling ahead, with a trip to Dixie Motor Speedway in Birch Run, Michigan for the AVSS show on Friday the only real possibility for racing action for us this weekend...Dixie is one of my more favourite places to see a race, and it's just a few ticks over 2 hours from home, so we'll probably end up going, as long as this weather improves a bit...Brian Lay figures to be tough again at Dixie as we saw him win there a couple of years ago back when he drove the #20 for the Katz racing team. Dixie also happens to be one of, if not the last place that the legendary Gary Fedewa won a sprint car feature at before his retirement, so son Tommy in the same #42 car may also be strong...He came home 3rd at Berlin and leads the AVSS point standings. I doubt we will ever see any 12.18 second laps like Cameron Dodson managed to do at Dixie last season, but I guess we will have to wait and see...Personally I will be surprised if that ever gets broken, unless he comes back and does it himself...

As always, questions, comments, and anything else you want to direct my way can be sent to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

Entry for June 18, 2006: Humberstone Speedway

2006-06-21T23:41:00.000-04:00

Alright, I'm a little late in getting something written about Sunday night...Between work, softball, and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, I haven't been home much since then.

Right now I'm listening to the National Sprint Tour event from Sedalia, Missouri live on the internet and listening to the eery similarity between the National Sprint Tour's announcer and Greg Calnan from the Southern Ontario Sprints.

A nice field of 33 Southern Ontario Sprints were at Humberstone on Father's Day. It wasn't a perfect night, but relatively average...However, sitting back and thinking about it, nothing about this year's SOS tour is "average" by our standards. They've had 30+ cars at 3 of their 5 events and have had more than 24 cars at 4 of the 5 - the lone exception being way back at the beginning of May at Brighton. This is a huge amount of growth, even with last season being as successful as it was. "The Penninsula Posse" is starting to make it's precence felt already as quite a few first year sprint car drivers from the Niagara Penninsula have been fast right out of the box.

However, on this night, a driver from the Golden Horseshoe town of Campbellville made his presence felt. Kevin Job, a semi-regular competitor at the Flamboro Speedway over the past few seasons, won the feature Sunday night in only his 5th start ever in a sprint car.

As a matter of fact, pretty much all the different regions from which the SOS draws their regular drivers from were present in the Top 5 at Humberstone. Representing the Golden Horseshoe was Job. Representing Southwestern Ontario was Jim Davies from London in 2nd place. In 3rd was Joey Middlemiss from the Niagara area town of Chippawa. 4th was Mike Lauterborn from Rochester, New York. Rounding out the Top 5 was Bobby Crawford from Sutton up in the Barrie area. Incidentally, how about that Top 5? Not exactly what we would have predicted at the beginning of the season...the competition in the SOS this season has definitely been raised a few notches. The rest of this SOS season is going to be pretty exciting I do believe.

Remember I mentioned Tim Zack back a few entries ago? Well he brought the #9jr car home in 7th place on Sunday night. Pretty impressive for a car that celebrated it's 20th birthday this year.

Anyways, that's really all I feel like writing right now...the NST feature is about to start and I want to listen to it...This weekend I'll probably only get to see 1 race as my brother is graduating from high school on Friday night so we'll be at those ceremonies instead of seeing the annual Empire Super Sprints visit at Ohsweken Speedway. This weekend also happens to be my brother's birthday and so he has decided we will be visiting the Berlin Raceway in Michigan on Saturday night for the AVSS show. Berlin's a great track and their weekly Late Model division is actually worth watching as it is one of the few places left where Outlaw-style Super Late Models still run weekly, and they are BAD FAST! As always, comments and everything else are welcome at tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

Entry for June 16, 2006: Toledo Speedway

2006-06-21T23:24:00.000-04:00

June 16 found us at Toledo Speedway for “The Fastest Short Track Show in the World” featuring the ISMA Supermodifieds and AVSS Sprint Cars. This is an event I look forward to all year, and at a track I love visiting. In terms of value for your racing dollar, it’s hard to beat having those two divisions on the same track on the same night.

This is one of the only events all season in which the ISMA cars time trial instead of using their traditional handicapping system, and in the last few years, the sprint cars have always gotten the better of them in time trials and gotten bragging rights…I’ve never totally understood how this happened year after year until now…

Alright, so sprint car fast time was over .5 seconds faster than Supermod fast time and 8 sprinters in total got underneath the fastest time run by a Super...

HOWEVER, I had the watch on them all night and from the beginning of the heats until the end of the feature, the supers were marginally faster...except for Cameron Dodson...that car was on a rail...as usual...After a restart about halfway through the feature, he ripped off about 5 consecutive laps at or below 13.50 and opened a huge lead...Chris Perley ran some 13.90’s in the same fashion in the ISMA feature and was basically the 2^nd fastest car at the track, though he didn’t appear to be pushing it as hard as he could have.

Some of the reasons why the Sprint Cars have been faster in time trials in this event became very apparent last night...

For one thing, it was a hot sunny day and the Supers went first (as usual) and they were having a lot of trouble finding grip...by the time the Sprint Cars got on the track, the sun was starting to go down and the track was cooler...They were still sliding around a bit but didn't have as much trouble...

For another, the fast sprint cars are able to set up so they can go nearly flat out all the way around in qualifying...The Supers just don't seem to be able to do that for whatever reason...once the racing starts the Sprints have to let off in the corners and both divisions on average are right around the same range, lap time wise...

It also seems like the Super guys don't really know how to time trial since they only do it 2-3 times per year...The Sprint Car guys do it every week and seem to have a different strategy than the Super guys...the Supers got on it and up to speed as soon as they pushed off (they push off on the backstretch at Toledo and get 1 whole warm up lap before taking the green), whereas the majority of the sprints idled around and got on it coming out of turn 2 and going down the backstraight...I don't know if they think they are saving their tires this way or whether it's just a monkey see monkey do thing, but the two groups were definitely different in their approach.

Lastly, I think the Supers actually overpower a momentum track like that...Fast time for the Supers was set by Ray Graham, who had a misfire in the engine and didn't have to let off in the corners as much as the others...

I'm not making excuses...I'm just saying these are things I observed last night.

Cameron Dodson was somewhat of a surprise entrant in the AVSS race and he picked up right where he left off last season, dominating the entire night. In the ISMA portion, Chris Perley was once again dominant as he has been in years past at Toledo, but a run in with a lapped car left him on the sidelines at the end. Nokie Fornoro was able to pass Lou Cicconi after a late race restart to take the ISMA feature win. ISMA has a little bit of a miniature “Pennsylvania Posse” forming as Cicconi is from Aston and Fornoro is from Reeders.

The big announcement was that the rained out AVSS show from May 13 at Berlin will be made up on September 30...the same night ISMA and the USAC/UMARA/WOWMS midgets happen to be there too...I'm not sure I've ever heard of midgets, sprints, and supermodifieds all running on the same night at the same track, other than perhaps that show Tony Stewart took part in in California a few years ago...Should be one heck of a night!

Sunday night we’ll be at the Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne, Ontario for the Southern Ontario Sprints Father’s Day Special…As always you can send any comments or whatever else you may want to direct my way to tommygoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

Entry for June 12, 2006: Ohsweken Speedway and Auto City Speedway

2006-06-21T23:17:00.001-04:00

Entry for June 12, 2006: Ohsweken Speedway and Auto City Speedway

This weekend presented a difficult choice...The Auto Value Super Sprints were running at Delaware Speedway just 13 miles from my house on Friday night while the Southern Ontario Sprints were running at Ohsweken about an hour away...

A year or two ago it might have been a no-brainer to go to Delaware, but with the record car counts the SOS is getting this year, the choice has gotten a lot more difficult.

In the end we chose to to Ohsweken...and then to Auto City Speedway in Michigan to see the AVSS there on Saturday night.

It turned out to be the right choice more or less. 43 sprint cars greeted us as we arrived at Ohsweken, with invaders Jessica Zemken and Chuck Hebing in the pits looking for some track time to tune up for the various events coming up later in the season, including of course the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, which may overflow even the spacious pit area of Ohsweken (Glenn Styres' backyard) if early season car counts are any indication.

Chuck Hebing ended up dominating the feature, as he has done in almost every event he has competed in all season. "The Cobra" went on to record 2 more feature wins this weekend, with 2 different clubs. Saturday he took home his first Empire Super Sprints feature win at the Little Valley Speedway in New York, and Sunday it was on to The Hill Raceway in Pennsylvania where he won yet another ASCS Patriot Sprint Group feature. Jerry Coons, Jr. may be the only open wheel driver on as much of a roll right now as "The Cobra" (Coons also won 3 features this weekend out in the midwest - 2 in midgets and 1 in non-wing sprints).

There were other storylines at Ohsweken besides Hebing though, not the least of which is the rapid improvement of many of the newcomers to sprint car racing this season. The results don't quite show exactly how good some of these guys are already. Particularly of note are Stan Zanchin, Brad Malloy and Rob Pietz. Zanchin failed to make the A-Main but looked relatively fast and comfortable all night and probably would have made the feature but for the fact that the B-Main field he was competing against was a tough one with Brad Knab and Fred Cade finishing 1st and 2nd.

Malloy was running in the top 10 of the feature when he spun on the 6th lap. He managed to salvage a 17th place finish. The next night at Brighton Malloy came back with a very solid 4th place finish, which moved him up in to 7th in SOS points, the highest of the rookie class.

Pietz started up front and drove a steady race to finish 11th and seems to gain speed and confidence every time he is on the track.

Of note also is former DIRT Sportsman racer Tim Zack who bought a 20 year old chassis from Vic Devries over the winter and has been running steadily with it. He is not a threat to win, or even make the feature some nights, but in terms of racing on a shoestring, he is giving drivers like John Watson and Daryl Turford a "run for their money"...or lackthereof I suppose. It will be fun to see how many cars show up at Humberstone next Sunday night for the next SOS race...37 were on hand on a chilly Sunday night in May...Perhaps 40 isn't out of the question this time around.

Because of our decision to go to Ohsweken, I ended up missing Ryan Litt's very first feature win in a sprint car on Friday night. Apparently the hometown fans were pretty excited about Ryan's win since he's from Lyons, just about 30 miles from the speedway.

Saturday night it was on to Auto City Speedway...Auto City is one of the first tracks I started attending regularly when I started travelling for races, as it is only about an hour's drive from the Sarnia/Port Huron border crossing. It's always fun to go back there, although not quite as fun as it used to be now that they've figured out that they can draw the same crowd at a sprint car show and let their "good" weekly divisions like the Late Models and Modifieds take the night off.

A nice field of 26 AVSS cars were in the Auto City pits and in time trials, almost all were within 1 second of quick time, a 12.988 on this night, set by Jimmy McCune. I've seen the track record lowered multiple times now by the AVSS cars and it has sat at 12.90 since Kevin Newton set it there in 2003. Previous to that, Mike Ling from right around here in Mount Brydges, Ontario was the first driver ever in the 12 second bracket at Auto City when he ran a 12.99 back when he drove the Marv Carman owned #61 car, so Auto City has always been kind of special to me since a Canadian held the track record there.

3 Canadians were actually in the race this time around with rookie of the year contender Ryan Litt, Mike Ling in a one-off ride in John Hotchkiss' #75, and Brian Welch from Glencoe in the former Jim Brown car which Mike Ling, Sean Stafford, and Jason Blonde all drive. The car has been reconfigured to fit Sandusky Speedway 305 Buckeye Sprint rules and is not competitive with the big 410's, but Brian was there getting some laps in anyway.

It was a good show with a fantastic finish as Tommy Fedewa led all but the last few inches of the feature, with Brian Lay nosing him out for the victory in what was apparently the closest finish in AVSS history.

All in all a great racing weekend at what I consider to be my two "home tracks"...Next week it's on to Toledo for the AVSS and ISMA Supermodified doubleheader billed as the "Fastest Short Track Show in the World". This is a can't-miss show each season and one that I mark on my calendar as soon as the schedules are released each winter. I'm secretly hoping the Supers will be faster in time trials than the Sprinters this year...I'm tired of those sprint car guys claiming they're "the fastest short track cars in the world". :P

After Toledo, I would love to go on to Mansfield for the ISMA event there on Saturday, but prior commitments have forced me to come home on Friday night after the races. All is not lost though as the plan is to head to Humberstone on Sunday evening for the SOS event...Another great, diverse weekend on tap. I can't wait! As always if you would like to drop me a line, send me an e-mail at TommyGoudge@hotmail.com

See you at the races!

June 2, 2006: Kalamazoo Speedway

2006-06-04T11:48:00.000-04:00

Well, tonight Mother Nature decided I wasn't going to see any racing. A 4 hour drive to Kalamazoo, Michigan allowed me to see AJ Lane complete his time trial laps before the skies opened, and that was all. On the bright side, I did get to check out a new track and "get the lay of the land".

K-Zoo is a neat place and looks like it can put on a pretty good race. It's 3/8's mile designation seems to be relatively accurate, although like most other tracks, that number might be fudged a little bit. The grandstands are VERY close to the track there...Not for the faint of heart, but pretty spectacular for those willing to be brave (and deaf). I can't wait to go back and see an actual race there.

On the drive home we passed the Ryan Litt #07 team hauler...Their home track race (and mine) is coming up this Friday night - June 9th - at Delaware Speedway. Hopefully this time the AVSS series won't have Mother Nature interfere. So far they're only batting .333 against her...

In other news, a graphic designer aquaintance of mine did up a cool new logo for the front page of www.theracechasers.com . Check out his website at http://www.geocities.com/jkrdesigns05/

See you at the races!

Tommy

Entry for May 27, 2006 - South Buxton Raceway

May 27, 2006: South Buxton Raceway

Everything that could possibly go wrong tonight did...After a leisurely 85 mile drive to the track - one of the shortest trips to a track I make all season - we arrived to find the track already dried out, dusty, and slick during hot laps. This did not bode well, but I remained somewhat optimistic...

However, as the track's regular divisions ran their heat races, it was plain to see this was not going to be a good night...Spin after spin and caution after caution halted the racing program early and often. What was most infuriating was not the cautions themselves, but the fact that many drivers drove away as soon as the caution flag flew but didn't same to make any effort to get moving while the green flag was out.

The SOD Sprint Cars were able to put on a decent show, but with the track in the condition it was there was little passing. Only 15 SOD cars chose to cross the border, but they were augmented by 4 Southern Ontario Sprints regulars. One bright spot in the night was Michigan driver Gregg Dalman taking home his first feature win since 2003.

There were lots of things to complain about, including the fact that the Sprint Car feature didn't end until midnight (they still had two other features left to run at this time), but I am going to let bygones be bygones and move along. On a bright note, the food was pretty good at South Buxton...but it sure didn't make up for everything else...

Tuesday night I'll be visiting the Rolling Wheels Raceway near Syracuse, New York in the hopes that the night will go a little bit better. The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and the American Sprint Car Series Patriot Sprint Group will be in attendance for the annual Sprint Car Spectacular and it should be a pretty good show. Last season 33 World of Outlaws cars and 40 Patriots cars were in attendance and the racing was pretty good despite less than ideal track conditions. Jessica Zemken really served notice that she was the real deal last year at Rolling Wheels when she finished 4th in the PSG event in only her second start in a sprint car...She has started off this season with her first 2 sprint car feature wins and should be a force to be reckoned with on Tuesday night.

After Rolling Wheels I'll finally be seeing my first AVSS event of the season next Saturday at the Kalamazoo Speedway in Michigan...AVSS is one of my favourite series and it should be a great show...Maybe I'll see you there! If you'd like to e-mail me, drop me a line at tommygoudge@hotmail.com

May 21, 2006: Humberstone Speedway
Welcome to my first blog entry...Blog is short for "Weblog" in case you were wondering (Dad)...I'll post random thoughts and other racing related items that don't fit the confines of my monthly columns here...

Tonight I finally saw a race this season without crossing the border...Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne, Ontario was the venue and the Southern Ontario Sprints were the main attraction...A very nice field of 37 sprinters filled the pits on a cold, windy, and cloudy day...

Much credit must go to the track officials and crew for going ahead with the show despite some dodgy weather (The Patriot sprints were rained out just a couple hours to the East at Cayuga County, NY), and getting the track into great racing shape after a week's worth of rain...There was one major curb developing in turn 2 but some work with the grader during the intermission knocked that down and the track was racy and pretty tacky all night...The wind took it's toll in the feature a bit as the track started to slick off and get dusty, but there was still plenty of byte left...

Taking advantage of the PSG rainout at Cayuga County, Rick Wilson stopped at Humberstone on his way home and pocketed the feature winner's cheque, but it wasn't easy. The surprising Craig Downie led much of the feature but had trouble with the lap cars which allowed Wilson to slip by. Downie appeared to let his frustration with the lappers get to him a bit as he slipped back after being passed while overdriving the car a bit, but settled down and had a battle with Kyle Patrick for the runner-up spot in the closing laps. Patrick ended up taking the spot with Downie in 3rd, defending champ Adam West 4th, and Warren Mahoney rounding out the top 5.

Once again this season I froze my butt off at a racetrack with it being 44 degrees and windy once the sun went down, but it was still an enjoyable night. I'm hoping next weekend brings warmer temperatures finally when I visit the South Buxton Raceway for the ASCS SOD sprint car tour event at the Chatham-area oval.

Tomorrow night may find me taking in a rare fendered show...The BRP Can-Am 360 Late Models are visiting Merrittville Speedway along with Merrittville's regular 358 DIRT Modified division and with new clay and a slight reconfiguration of the track over the winter, I am curious to see what things are like down there now...Plus it's a very rare chance to see a race on a weeknight without crossing the border...and it's only a 2 hour car ride from home...

If I don't end up going to Merrittville, my next action will be next Saturday night at the aforementioned South Buxton Raceway for the Sprints on Dirt, now under the American Sprint Car Series banner as one of their regional series. The ASCS passing points system should be interesting and I am anxious to see it in action.

Hope to see you there! If you would like to send me a comment or question, drop me an e-mail at tommygoudge@hotmail.com
Tommy